Mercer Falls to No. 18 Florida State

Wednesday, March 31

Tallahassee, Fla.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

13-11

Florida State

13-8

Mercer

Florida State

3/31/2021 9:18:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Brandon Michie hit a solo home run for the Bears

By: Travis Rae

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Mercer baseball team was limited to three hits against No. 18 Florida State in an 8-1 loss on Wednesday evening. The contest saw all nine runs scored in the seventh inning of the game.

Brandon Michie, Garett Delano and Collin Price all picked up hits for Mercer in the game. Michie collected his seventh home run of the season with a solo blast. Mercer limited the Seminoles bats for the majority of the contest as they tallied eight punch-outs.

It was a pitcher's duel to start the game as neither starter let the opposing offense settle in. After a scoreless first, Taylor Lobus came out for the second inning and got two swinging strikeouts to start the inning. The final came on a ground out to first base.

In the top of the third, Jackson Kelley came out of the pen and relieved Lobus. After a ground out, Jackson Greene singled for the first hit of the game. Colton Vincent followed with a double to put a pair of runners on base. Kelley got Tyler Martin to fly into a double play ending the inning.

Coming out for the fourth, Kelley continued to dominate on the mound as he got two strikeouts looking, and the game remained scoreless after four innings of play. Jack Anderson limited the Bears with a perfect game through six frames.

Mercer's pitching continued to keep the Seminoles' bats in check as Robert Bennett pitched a perfect three up, three down inning with two punch outs. Luke Sutko came out of the bullpen and surrendered a hit in the bottom of the sixth. After a hit-by-pitch, Sutko got a huge double play to end the inning.

Anderson continued to dominate Mercer's offense in the seventh inning and retired the first two of the frame to stretch his perfect game to 6.2 innings. Michie ended the perfect game, no-hitter, and shutout all in one swing when he hit a solo home run to left-center putting Mercer ahead, 1-0. Mercer continued to put pressure on the Seminoles as Price and Delano followed with two singles. Angelo DiSpigna drew a walk loading the bases for the Bears, however, the Bears left the bases loaded.

Florida State exploded in the bottom of the seventh inning for eight runs on six hits. The Seminoles sent 13 batters to the plate, and Elijah Cabell had a two-run home run and a two-run single in the frame.

Following the seventh inning, the Bears could not get anything going in the eighth or ninth innings and were retired in order. Mercer suffered an 8-1 loss.

Coach Gibson's Take
"This was a great ballgame for about eight innings, we just had one inning where we didn't get a big hit. Tip your cap as they hit us for a good inning. Florida State has a good club and plays well at home. We had a lot of positives as we played well defensively and cleaned up mistakes we made over the past weekends. This should get us ready to face a good arm at The Citadel on Friday.

Records Update
» Mercer: 13-11
» Florida State: 13-8

Pitchers of Record
» Win: Clayton Kwiatkowski (1-1)
» Loss: Luke Sutko (2-1)

Notables
» Michie broke up a perfect game in the top of the seventh inning when he hit his seventh home run of the season.
» Mercer collected three hits on the night, all in the seventh inning.
» Mercer tallied eight strikeouts on the night with the Bears' starter, Taylor Lobus, leading the way with three.
» Lobus, Kelley and Bennett combined to only allow two hits over the first five innings of the contest.

Up Next
» Mercer: at The Citadel (5 p.m. Friday, April 2 at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park)
» Florida State: vs. North Carolina (6 p.m. Friday, April 2 at Dick Howser Ballpark)

Follow the Bears
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