Baseball Falls to No. 14 South Carolina

Friday, March 5

Columbia, S.C.

4 p.m.

Mercer University

3-5

South Carolina

8-0

Mercer

South Carolina

Photo by: Ryan Bethea, South Carolina Athletics

3/5/2021 10:42:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Mercer and South Carolina return to action on Saturday at 4 p.m.

By: Travis Rae

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Mercer baseball team dropped the opening game of the series against No. 14 South Carolina, 5-1, at Founders Park.

Mercer had six hits in the contest with five different players picking up a hit. Collin Price led Mercer with two hits. Angelo DiSpigna picked up the team's lone RBI in the game. Bears starter Tommy Green went 4.2 innings and tallied a career-high seven strikeouts in the contest.

The Bears and Gamecocks starting pitching did not let either offense settle in during the first three innings of the contest. Both teams combined for four hits over the first three innings.

Mercer looked to get something going in the top of the fourth inning. With one out, Bill Knight singled to get the Bears going. After a line out, Price picked up his first hit with a single up the middle putting two on with two outs. However, the runners would be stranded on base.

South Carolina scored the first runs of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. With two out and a runner on base, Braylen Wimmer hit a two-run home run to left field putting South Carolina ahead 2-0.

Mercer struck back for a run in the top of the fifth inning. Trevor Austin drew a walk and went to second on a wild pitch. DiSpigna followed with a double to right center and Mercer cut the lead in half, 2-1. The Bears had the tying run on third base with two outs, but could not get him in.

The Gamecocks added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs, the Bears hit a batter and walked one. Andrew Eyster picked up an RBI single putting South Carolina ahead, 3-1. With David Moore on the mound, he walked one and hit another for the fourth run of the game for South Carolina. The next hitter, Wimmer, drove a ball to the left-center field gap, but Colby Thomas tracked it down for the final out of the inning.

Knight led off the top of the sixth with a walk to get the Bears offense going. With one out, Price hit a shot down the left field line, which looked like a home run. After the umps talked it over and went to review it was ruled a foul ball. Price ended the at-bat with a single to third base putting two on. They both advanced after Andrew Peters was called for a balk. Again, Mercer would leave the runners stranded on base.

South Carolina added one more run in the bottom of the seventh inning. With a runner on second and third, David Mendham hit a sacrifice fly. Leading 5-1, South Carolina did not let the Bears get anything going in the final two innings and Mercer dropped game one, 5-1.

Coach Gibson's Take
"This was a great baseball game on Friday night. The environment as Founders Park was great, and South Carolina is a solid club. I can't say enough about Tommy Green as he gave us a great chance against a top-15 club. Our pitching and defense played well tonight. Hopefully we will continue playing well and take two games in the series."

Records Update
» Mercer: 3-5
» South Carolina: 8-0

Pitchers of Record
» Win: Thomas Farr (2-0)
» Loss: Tommy Green (0-2)

Notables
» Mercer starter Tommy Green set a career-high on Friday night with seven strikeouts in four and two thirds innings.
» Mercer had five players pick up a hit against South Carolina with Collin Price leading the Bears with two hits.
» The Bears pitching had a strong performance on the day as they tallied 11 punch outs.
» Mercer left eight runners on base in the first game of the series.
» Angelo DiSpigna picked up the lone RBI for the Bears on the day with an RBL double in the fifth inning.

Up Next
» Mercer: at South Carolina (4 p.m., Saturday, March 6 at Founders Park)
» South Carolina: vs. Mercer (4 p.m. Saturday, March 6 at Founders Park)

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