Mercer Drops Both Games of Twin Bill to VMI

Saturday, April 17

Lexington, Va.

1 p.m.

Mercer University

20-13, 0

VMI

8-20, 0

Mercer

VMI

Photo by: Mitch Robinson

4/17/2021 9:14:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

The Bears lost game one, 5-4, and suffered a 10-0 setback in game two.

By: Kraig Doremus

LEXINGTON, Va. – A twin bill was unkind to the Mercer Bears as they dropped a pair of games, 5-4, and 10-0, respectively.

Mercer picked up nine hits in the doubleheader with Brandon Michie and RJ Yeager recording hits in both contests. Seven different Bears – Bill Knight, Garett Delano, Collin Price, Angelo DiSpigna, Colby Thomas, Trevor Austin and Yeager – picked up a hit in game one. The opening game of Saturday's twin bill was highlighted by DiSpigna's two-run home run to center field. Michie and Yeager accounted for the Orange & Black's two hits in the nightcap.

Game One
Mercer fell behind early in game one as VMI's Cody Warner doubled down the right field line to start the bottom of the first and proceeded to steal third. He scored on Trey Morgan's RBI single, and Morgan niftily made his way around the basepaths, stealing second, moving to third on Justin Starke's single and scoring when Cole Garrett reached on a fielder's choice.

After two flyouts to start the Bears' half of the second, Price sent the first pitch he saw over the wall in right-center field, cutting the Keydets' lead in half.

VMI scored its third run of the game in the bottom of the inning, and Jacob Menders retired the Orange & Black hastily the third. Tommy Green got Zac Morris to fly out to end the bottom of the inning, forcing the Keydets to leave the bases full.

Yeager began the top of the fourth with a base knock to center field and advanced to third on Delano's one-out single to right. With runners on the corners, Le Bassett flew out to center, but Yeager tagged up to score, pulling Mercer within a run, 3-2.

Taylor Lobus entered in relief of Green in the top of the fourth and allowed just three singles while fanning three over the next three innings. After Lobus retired the Keydets in order with three consecutive groundouts to Delano, the Bears pulled in front in the top of the seventh. Delano walked to start the inning and found himself in scoring position throwing error. The next two batters grounded out, but it did not matter to the powerful DiSpigna. The six-foot-five-inch sophomore belted the ball high over the wall in center field to give Mercer a 4-3 advantage, which it held until the ninth.

Lobus continued his to quickly retire batters, throwing just 13 pitches in the latter half of the seventh and sitting the Keydets down in order. A one-out double from Knight did no damage to VMI as he was left stranded 90 feet from home.

In the bottom of the eighth, Lobus allowed a leadoff single but a double play and strikeout ended the frame.

Mercer left a pair on base in the top of the ninth but still held a 4-3 lead with VMI down to its last three outs. VMI's Callen Nuccio began the Keydets' portion of the final inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. A walk and single loaded the bases with one retired, but Luke Sutko, who entered after Warner drew a base on balls, struck out Morgan for the second out. With the count full, Starke singled to left field, scoring two to give VMI the 5-4 win.

Game Two
Mercer was limited to only two hits – one from Yeager and one from Michie – in a 10-0 loss in the final game of the doubleheader.

Both teams went down in order to open the game, and in the top of the second, Mercer was unable to take advantage of Yeager's one-out base knock. Yeager roped the first pitch he saw into right field and moved up 90 feet into scoring position when Bassett drew a walk. Yeager tagged up when Trevor Austin flew out but was left 90 feet from home.

A leadoff single and one-out walk gave VMI a pair of runners on in its half of the second frame, and the Keydets used a pair RBI singles and a two-RBI triple by Cole Jenkins to take a 4-0 lead over the visitors from Macon.

Things looked promising for the Bears in the third as CJ Keckler drew a leadoff walk on just four pitches, but any thoughts of runs were eliminated when VMI turned a double play and got the third out of the inning on a grounder to first.

Starke's leadoff home run to left field extended the Keydets' advantage to 5-0 in the third, but the Bears limited VMI to just one run in the frame.

The Orange & Black went down in order in each of the next three innings, and VMI managed only three base runners before the seventh inning. Michie recorded the Bears' second hit of the day with one away in the top of the seventh, hitting a double to right on the first pitch of his at-bat. Bassett drew a walk with two away, giving Mercer runners on the corners, but a flyout to right field stalled the Bears' attempts to put runs on the board.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh, VMI strung together three consecutive hits with the last of the three – a double to left field from Morris – scoring one run. A pair of two-RBI singles from Jenkins and Warner, both with two outs, gave the Keydets 10 runs and ended the contest.

Coach Gibson's Take
"Man, it was not our day, but you have to credit VMI. They came to play the entire weekend. I thought we battled back nicely in game one and refused to quit. Collin [Price] and Angelo [DiSpigna] had two big homers but things just didn't go our way in the bottom of the ninth. We dug ourselves too big a hole in game two and our bats were quiet. VMI had a big seventh inning, but that's the way it goes sometimes. We have to regroup and make sure we're ready to go at home on Wednesday against a good Georgia State club."

Records Update
» Mercer: 20-15
» VMI: 9-20

Pitchers of Record
Game One
» Win: Jacob Menders (2-2)
» Loss: Taylor Lobus (6-3)

Game Two
» Win: Tyler Bradt (1-1)
» Loss: Fred Wilson (1-3)

Notables
» DiSpigna hit a two-run shot in Saturday's first game and has now homered in three of Mercer's past six games.
» Price's solo homer run was his third of the season and first of April.
» Three of the Bears' four runs in game one came via the long ball.
» The Bears recorded a series high seven hits in the opening game of the DH. All seven hits came from a different player.
» Mercer had four extra-base hits on Saturday – two doubles and two home runs.
» The Orange & Black's pitching staff struck out 13 batters in the doubleheader – eight in game one and five in the final game.
» Lobus fanned four of the 13 batters while walking just one batter.
» Mercer's game against Georgia State on Wednesday is the Bears' third of four scheduled contests against the Panthers in 2021

Up Next
» Mercer: vs. Georgia State (6 p.m. Wednesday, April 21 at OrthoGeorgia Park)
» VMI: at Virginia Tech (6 p.m. Tuesday, April 20 at Atlantic Union Bank Park)

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