Bears Split Doubleheader with Wofford

Saturday, March 27

Macon, Ga.

2 p.m. (G1)

Mercer University

13-9, 0

Wofford

13-9, 0

Wofford

Mercer

Photo by: Mitch Robinson

3/28/2021 12:46:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Mercer takes two of three from Wofford

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team took the first game of the doubleheader 13-7 over Wofford to win the series before falling in game two, 12-2. The Bears improved their record to 13-10 on the season and 2-1 in SoCon play.

Game 1
After a three up and three down top of the first, the Bears came to the plate looking to take an early lead. After the first two hitters were retired, Brandon Michie hit a moon shot to right field for a home run and Mercer led, 1-0.

Bear's starter Tommy Green continued to keep the Terriers off balance at the plate as he retired the team in order in the second. In the third after a walk, he got Cameron Gill to fly into a double play. He closed the inning with a strike out of Lawson Hill.

Mercer grew its lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the third inning. Trevor Austin led off with a walk, and Bill Knight hit a homer to left field for his first two RBI of the day. RJ Yeager and Michie followed with back-to-back singles putting runners on the corners. Garett Delano executed a safety squeeze which scored one. After a sac bunt put runners on second and third, Angelo DiSpigna hit a sac fly to put the Bears ahead, 5-0.

Wofford slowly started chipping away at the Bears' lead and in the fourth as Nolen Hester hit a home run to right field. After back-to-back outs, the Terriers' offense started clicking again. Trey Yunger walked and stole second, and Jack Renwick drove him in with a single. The Terriers added one more run in the inning and Mercer led, 5-3.

Mercer extended its lead to 9-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning. With Jackson Cherry on third, Austin drew a walk putting two on. Knight followed with a double to left-center that scored both runners. Knight came around to score on a Wofford error. Mercer added one more when Collin Price drove home Delano in the frame taking a 9-3 lead.

The lead grew to 11-3 after the bottom of the fifth inning. Mercer took advantage of two errors by the Terriers and a sac fly by Yeager grew the lead to eight.

Colin Davis got one run back for Wofford in the sixth inning, and the Terriers continued to battle by getting three more runs in the seventh. Shane Lussier doubled home a run, and Hill followed with an RBI single. After the third run came across in the inning, Wofford still had two on with no outs.

Garrett Sloan got Davis to hit into a 5-4-3 triple play to end the inning as Mercer maintained an 11-7 lead.

M7 | Bears turn the TRIPLE PLAY! Trevor Austin, to Garett Delano to Angelo DiSpigna!#SCTop10 | #WinnersWin pic.twitter.com/9Ad7E5Fdvv
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) March 27, 2021

The Bears added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. With runners on second and third, Knight singled to right field scoring two more and bringing his total to six RBI in the contest.

Welsey Franklin shut the door on Wofford in the ninth inning and Mercer took game one 13-7 and extended its winning streak to eight.

Game 2
The Terriers took advantage of some early mistakes by the Bears. With a runner on first, Davis reached on an error that allowed Hester to come around to score. Later in the inning, Yunger stole third base and scored on a throwing error by the Bears.

Wofford continued to add to its lead in the top of the second inning. With the bases loaded, Hill hit a sac fly to right scoring one. After a hit by pitch loaded the bases again, Davis hit a sac fly scoring another run. Yunger collected two RBI on a single, making it 6-0 after an inning and a half.

The Terriers added their seventh run of the day on another sac fly by John Dempsey in the fourth.

Mercer scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. After a David Burke double, he came around to score when Knight reached on a wild pitch after swinging at strike three. Again, Wofford answered back with a home run and a two-run single in the sixth inning, taking a 10-1 lead.

The Bears picked up two hits in the bottom of the sixth but could not get a run across. With one out, Antonio Brown picked up his first collegiate hit and then stole second base. Following a walk, Brown was thrown out trying to steal third. Jordan Ammons followed with single to center. However, Mercer couldn't get a run across.

The hot bats continued for Wofford in the second game when Dempsey hit a home run to right field putting the Terriers ahead 12-1 in the top of the seventh.

Mercer tried to get a really going in the bottom of the frame. Burke single to center and Knight singled to short to lead off the inning. The Terriers tried to turn two on a fielder's choice, but they were unsuccessful as Burke came around to score on a throwing error. Mercer would leave two on and fall in game two, 12-2.

Coach Gibson's Take
"This was a good weekend for us as we took the first SoCon series of the season. It's always tough to win three in a row but give Wofford credit as they came out hitting the ball. Game three was lost early on when we didn't make a couple of plays and they took advantage of it. Give them credit, they have a good club and we have to refocus and get ready for a great club (Florida) on Tuesday night."

Records Update
» Mercer: 13-10, 2-1 SoCon
» Wofford: 14-9, 3-3 SoCon

Pitchers of Record
Game 1
» Win: Taylor Lobus (3-2)
» Loss: Josh Vitus (0-1)

Game 2
» Win: Elliot Carney (3-2)
» Loss: Jackson Kelley (2-3)

Notables
» Bill Knight had himself a ball game in game one of the doubleheader. He drove in six runs in the first game on three hits.
» Mercer had five extra-base hits in the first game of the doubleheader with three doubles and two home runs.
» Mercer took two-of-three from Wofford in the series to win its first SoCon series of the season.
» David Burke came off the bench in game two and recorded two hits and scored two runs.
» Mercer left eight people on base in the second game of the doubleheader.

Up Next
» Mercer: at Florida (6 p.m. Tuesday, March 30 at Florida Ballpark)
» Wofford: at Davidson (6 p.m. Tuesday, March 30 at Atrium Health Ballpark)

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.