Bats Come Alive in 10-3 Win Over Florida A&M

Wednesday, March 10

Macon, Ga.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

4-7

Florida A&M

0-12

Florida A&M

Mercer

Photo by: Mitch Robinson

3/10/2021 11:25:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Mercer picked up 16 hits in the win

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team's bats exploded for a season-high 16 hits in a 10-3 win over visiting Florida A&M on Wednesday night. The win snapped Mercer's seven-game losing skid.

Bill Knight led the team with three hits in the contest. Six Bears – Trevor Austin, RJ Yeager, Angelo DiSpigna, Collin Price, Brandon Michie, David Burke – all had two hits each. Knight, DiSpigna and Michie led the team with two RBI each.

Tommy Green went four innings in relief and picked up the win for the Bears. He allowed one run and two hits in the contest while striking out three. Mercers pitching staff limited the Rattlers to two hits in the contest, which tied a season-low for Florida A&M.

Florida A&M struck first in the contest as they took advantage of two Bears errors and walks in the first inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Grant Rowell hit a sac fly that scored the first run of the game. That would be all the Rattlers would get in the inning as they would leave two runners stranded.

The Rattlers scored their second run of the game in the top of the third inning. With a runner on second base and two outs, LJ Bryant reached on an infield single that plated Octavien Moyer extending the Rattlers lead to 2-0.

Mercers' bats came to life in the bottom of the third inning. David Burke got the inning started with a single before scoring the Bears' first run of the game when Knight smashed a double to right-center field. After a wild pitch moved Knight to third, and with one out, Yeager doubled down the left-field line that scored Knight to tie the game.

DiSpigna followed with a walk and Price had an infield single that loaded the bases. Brandon Michie followed with an infield single of his own to push across the go-ahead run. The bases remained loaded with one out for Colby Thomas who drew a walk for the fourth run of the inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, Burke picked up an RBI after being hit by a pitch. Knight followed with a single that scored the sixth run of the inning, giving Mercer a 6-2 lead.

After scoring its second run of the game, Florida A&M could not get anything going off Green as he retired the side in order in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.

Mercer's bats remained hot in the fourth inning. With two one and no out, DiSpigna picked up a two-run single giving the Bears an 8-2 lead. Mercer continued to add to its lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when it was Price's turn to pick up an RBI double. Price scored on a Michie single growing the Bears lead to 10-2.

Wesley Franklin relieved Green in the top of the seventh inning and continued to dominate the Rattlers' hitters. Franklin tallied two strikeouts and a ground out and sat Florida A&M down in order.

The Rattlers scored one more run in the top of the eighth inning. The Rattlers took advantage of three walks and a hit by pitch to score their third run of the game. After a pitching change brought in Will Bowdoin, the Rattlers were retired in order. Bowdoin continued to dominate as he struck out the first hitter of the ninth before issuing a walk. After a fielder's choice, Bowdoin got a fly out to end the game and Mercer came away with a 10-3 victory.

Coach Gibson's Take
"I am excited that we got the week off to a good start. We haven't been in the win column in a while, but we have continued to work hard and prepared and we hope this will get us going. I am proud of Tommy Green and our entire bullpen. They were outstanding tonight. We finally strung some good at-bats together offensively."

Records Update
» Mercer: 4-7
» Florida A&M: 0-12

Pitchers of Record
» Win: Tommy Green (1-2)
» Loss: Josh Barr (0-1)

Notables
» For the second time this season, the Bears put up a six spot in an inning. Mercer scored six in the third to get the scoring started on Wednesday. The Bears put up a six spot in a win over Jackson State earlier this season.
» The 16 hits for Mercer is a season-high. Eight different players picked up a hit in the contest.
» Mercer entered the midweek matchup with Florida A&M leading the SoCon in doubles. Mercer picked up four more doubles on the day and now have 26 doubles this season.
» The Bears pitching staff was outstanding on the night as they limited Florida A&M to two hits in the contest. The two hits for Florida A&M tied a season-low.
» Bill Knight led the team with three-hits on the day. Behind the three hit day, the Bears had six players pick up two hits each.
» Prior to the contest, Mercer honored Leonard Bevill and he threw out the first pitch of the contest.

Up Next
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