Baseball Falls to Marshall in Series Finale

Sunday, March 14

Macon, Ga.

12 p.m.

Mercer University

5-9

Marshall

3-4

Marshall

Mercer

Photo by: Mitch Robinson

3/14/2021 6:09:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Mercer dropped their second straight contest to Marshall

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team dropped its second straight contest on Sunday afternoon, 19-9, in the series finale against Marshall.

Trevor Austin and Brandon Michie led the team with three hits on the day. Two of three hits for Michie left the park. Jackson Cherry came off the bench late in the game, and collected his first career-hit, which went for a home run. Trevor Rider also picked up his first career hit in the loss.

The Thundering Herd wasted little time putting up a crooked number on the Bears. In the top of the first, Marshall scored six runs on four hits. Luke Edwards got the scoring started with a two-run home run to left. Later in the inning, Kyle Schaefer added a three-run shot to right center.

Mercer cut the lead in half in the bottom of the frame. Bill Knight led off the game with a double down the left field line and came in to score on a Collin Price single. The fourth batter of the game, Michie, took the first pitch he saw and hit a two-run home run putting Mercer down, 6-3.

The home runs continued to fly for Marshall, as the Thundering Herd added their third home run of the game in the second inning. With two outs, a single got the Herd started, and Ryan Leitch followed with a home run to left.

Mercer continued to add runs as well. CJ Keckler reached on a hit by pitch and went to second on a wild pitch. Trevor Austin hit a single up the middle and on the play, Marshall threw the ball away, allowing Keckler to score.

Marshall continued to score as Hutzal hit one home to put the Herd ahead 9-4. Michie brought the game within four runs, 9-5, with two outs in the fifth. He drove a ball to right field, and it cleared the wall for his second bomb of the day.

The game remained 9-5 in favor of Marshall until the top of the seventh. What looked to be a quick inning following two strikeouts to start the frame quickly proved false. Marshall strung three hits together to add three runs to its total. An inning later, the Thundering Herd continued to add to the lead as they scored six runs on four hits in the top of the eighth. In the inning, Leitch, Zach Gardiner and Zach Inskeep all hit home runs.

The Orange & Black's bats came to life in the bottom of the eighth inning. With one out, Rider singled for his first career hit. After the second out of the inning, Blake Schmitt drew a walk and David Burke hti a double down the right field line scoring one. After a pitching change, Cherry came to the plate and belted the second pitch he saw for a home run. The homer was the first of hit of his career.

Marshall added one more run, stretching the lead to 19-9 in the top of the ninth inning. In the bottom of the inning, the Bears could not get anything going and were defeated 19-9.

Coach Gibson's Take
"Tip your cap to Marshall. That is how you go on the road and knock the other team out of the world. That is how you win the series. Hopefully we learn from this as we have a few road series coming up. I am proud of our young players, who gave us great at-bats late in the game. Jackson [Cherry] hit the ball out of the park, and Trevor [Rider] picked up his first hit. We need everybody to win a championship."

Records Update
» Mercer: 5-9
» Marshall: 3-4

Pitchers of Record
» Win: John Cheatwood (1-0
» Loss: Fred Wilson (1-2)

Notables
» Michie had his first multi-home run game of the season on Sunday. He hit two home runs to right field for the Bears. He is now tied for the team-high with three.
» Jackson Cheery picked up his first career-hit in the eighth inning, which turned into his first career home run.
» Freshman Trevor Rider also picked up his first career hit on the day. He had a single in the eighth inning.
» Mercer tallied five extra-base hits in the contest with two doubles and three home runs. Mercer now has 30 doubles on the season.
» Austin was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate in the series finale. All three of his hits were singles.

Up Next
» Mercer: at Florida A&M (4 p.m. Tuesday, March 16 at Moore-Kittles Field)
» Marshall: at Southern Illinois (7 p.m. Friday, March 19 at Itchy Jones Stadium)

Follow the Bears
For complete coverage of Mercer Baseball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerBaseball (Twitter), /MercerBaseball (Facebook) and @Mercer.Baseball (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.

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Florida A&M

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Mar 16 (Tue)

4 p.m.

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Team Stats

Pitching:

W: John Cheatwood (1-0)

L: Wilson, Fred (1-2)

Marshall

Batting:

HR: Luke Edwards 1 ; Zach Gardiner 1 ; Zach Inskeep 1 ; Ryan Leitch 2 ; Kyle Schaefer 1

RBI: Geordon Blanton 1 ; Luke Edwards 2 ; Zach Gardiner 3 ; Travis Sankovich 1 ; Zach Inskeep 2 ; Peter Hutzal 1 ; Ryan Leitch 3 ; Jordon Billups 1 ; Kyle Schaefer 3 ; Cole Williams 1

Base Running:

RUNS: Geordon Blanton 3 ; Luke Edwards 2 ; Zach Gardiner 1 ; Devin Ward 1 ; Zach Inskeep 2 ; Peter Hutzal 2 ; Ryan Leitch 4 ; Austin Dearing 1 ; Kyle Schaefer 2 ; Josh Pigozzo 1