Baseball Downs UNCG; Wins Fifth Straight

Saturday, April 10

Macon, Ga.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

18-11, 6-1

UNCG

14-14, 3-7

UNCG

Mercer

Photo by: Mitch Robinson

4/10/2021 11:53:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

The Bears open the series with a 7-4 win

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team extended its winning streak to five games after a 7-4 victory over UNCG on Saturday evening at OrthoGeorgia Park. The win for Mercer improved the Bears to 18-11 on the season and 6-1 in SoCon action.

Bill Knight led the Bears at the plate with two hits on the day. Following Knight, Mercer had five other players pick up a hit. Brandon Michie led the way with two RBI in the win. Garett Delano started for the Bears on the mound and went 7.1 innings while striking out a team-high six Spartans. Robert Bennett picked up the win in relief for the Bears.

Delano and UNCG's Austin Koehn were dealing to open the contest as neither team had a hit through the first three innings. The first baserunner of the game came in the top of the third inning on a hit-by-pitch.

Delano continued to deal and carried a no-hitter through four innings. He ended the fourth with two strikeouts.

The Bears picked up the first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth. Bill Knight led off the inning with a double to right-center and advanced to third on a fly out to center field. With Brandon Michie at the plate, Knight scored on a sac fly that put Mercer ahead, 1-0.

Delano continued to throw no-hit baseball and retired the first two hitters in the fifth inning before Grant Jarman picked up the first hit of the day for the Spartans with a single up the middle. Following the hit, Delano retired the next hitter ending the inning.

UNCG bounced back and took the lead in the sixth inning. After back-to-back hits started the inning, a sac bunt moved the runners into scoring position. Greg Hardison picked up a two-run RBI single putting the Spartans ahead, 2-1.

The lead did not last long as the Bears answered back in the bottom of the frame. David Burke led off with a single to left field and Trevor Austin bunted him over. Knight followed with his second double of the game that scored Burke to tie the game. Knight came around to score on a Michie single to second base that put Mercer ahead, 3-2.

Mercer continued to hold onto the 3-2 lead until the top of the eighth inning. With one out, Corey Rosier took the first pitch he saw out to straightaway center field, tying the game at 3-3. After a single, the Bears made a pitching change and brought in Robert Bennett. Bennett recorded a strikeout, and Collin Price threw out a runner trying to steal to end the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, Jackson Cherry led off with a pitch-hit single. Austin followed with a single, putting two runners on with no outs. Knight came up and moved both runners up on a sacrifice bunt. The Bears took the lead on a fielder's choice as the Spartans made a bad throw to score a Bears' run.

Following the error, Mercer scored three more runs in the inning. With the bases loaded, Delano drew an RBI walk to score Austin. RJ Yeager and Delano both came into score on wild pitches and Mercer led 7-3 after eight innings of play.

UNCG tried to make a comeback in the top of the ninth inning. Hogan Windish led off with a walk, and Pres Cavenaugh doubled putting two on. Luke Sutko settled down and got a strikeout for the first out of the frame. He then got Jarman to ground out, which scored a run, as the second out of the inning. After a pinch hit single putting runners on the corners, Sutko retired Dallas Callahan to end the game and give Mercer a 7-4 victory.

Hear from Coach Gibson

Head coach @CraigGibson_MU talks about the win over UNCG!#WinnersWin | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/MOwbJCGHvx
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) April 11, 2021

Records Update
» Mercer: 18-11, 6-1 SoCon
» UNCG: 14-14, 3-7 SoCon

Pitchers of Record
» Win: Robert Bennett (1-0)
» Loss: Brandon Stephens (1-1)

Notables
» Bill Knight led the Bears with two hits, both of which were doubles.
» Mercer won its fifth straight game. This is the second-longest winning streak of the season.
» The Orange & Black had six different players pick up a hit in the game.
» Brandon Michie led way for Mercer with two RBI.
» Garett Delano tossed 7.1 innings on the day and tallied six punch outs to lead the team.
» Robert Bennett picked up the first win of his Mercer career.

Up Next
» Mercer: vs. UNCG (1 p.m. Sunday, April 11 at OrthoGeorgia Park)
» UNCG: vs. Mercer (1 p.m. Sunday, April 11 at OrthoGeorgia Park)

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.