Mercer Splits Doubleheader With The Citadel

Saturday, May 15

Macon, Ga.

2 p.m. (G1)

Mercer University

The Citadel

Photo by: Mitch Robinson

5/15/2021 11:05:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

The Bears honored their eight seniors before the doubleheader

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team split its doubleheader with The Citadel on Senior Day. Mercer won game one, 8-5, before dropping game two, 8-7.

Game One
The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead on the Bears as Ryan McCarthy hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning off Josh Farmer. Farmer settled down after the homer and did not allow another run in the frame.

After a scoreless second inning by Farmer, The Citadel came back and added to the lead in the top of the third. After back-to-back singles put runners on the corners. The Bulldogs pulled off a double steal, where McCarthy stole second and Jeffery Brown stole home. On the play, Mercer tried to get Brown out at home and he slid into the catcher's glove and the ball squirted away and McCarthy came all the way around to score.

The Bears answered in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, RJ Yeager doubled down the left field line. It looked as if he would be stranded as the next hitter was retired for the second out of the inning. Garett Delano stepped in and the first pitch he saw he drove over the left center field fence for a two-run homer.

Kiss that one goodbye! @Garett__Delano with the homer!#WinnersWin | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/WIjpIdwTh5
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 15, 2021

The homer sparked a two-out rally as the next three hitters walked for Mercer. Jordan Ammons followed with a two-run single putting the Bears ahead 4-3. With runners on the corners for Mercer, Le Bassett scored on a passed ball and Mercer led 5-3.

BIG TIME HIT BY A BIG-TIME PLAYER! @Jammons_24 with a two-run single!#WinnersWin | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/L5TislM5Ui
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 15, 2021

The Bulldogs got one run back to start the fourth inning when Cam Jensen hit a homer down the left field line. After a pitching change, Taylor Lobus came in and quieted the Bulldogs bats, as he only allowed one more hit in the frame. Lobus went 4.1 innings in the game and limited The Citadel to only four hits.

Mercer added a run in the bottom of the fourth. Bill Knight drew a leadoff walk and Yeager picked up another double putting runners on second and third. Brandon Michie came up and hit a sac fly that scored Knight extending the lead.

Mercers' bats stayed hot in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs, Knight drew another walk, and Yeager doubled for his third straight at-bat, which scored Knight. Michie singled home Yeager and Mercer had an 8-4 lead.

The lead was trimmed to three in the top of the seventh inning. Brown led off with a single and went to second on a stolen base. He came into score when Jones doubled to left field. The Citadel continued to battle in the top of the eighth inning. With two on and two out, Brown singled, which looked as if it would load the bases, however, Jensen rounded third too far and Delano threw him out trying to get back to third to end the inning.

Sutko came out for the ninth inning to close the door and secure the win for Mercer. He got the first batter to ground out before hitting the next. With one on and one out, Sutko locked in and got a fly out to left center and a strikeout to end the game. Mercer took game one, 8-5, and Sutko picked up his eleventh save of the season.

Game Two
Like game one, the Bulldogs struck first in game two. Brown reached on a strikeout and wild pitch and went to third when McCarthy singled through the right side. After a strikeout, Noah Mitchell hit a sac fly that scored Brown. The lead grew to 2-0 in the top of the second inning. With two on and two out, Brown continued to swing a hot bat for the Bulldogs as he singled home one making it 2-0.

The Bears answered back in the bottom of the third. Knight led off the inning with a single and Yeager picked up another hit putting two on. With one out, both runners advanced on a wild pitch and Delano scored them on a triple to center field, tying the game at 2-2.

.@Garett__Delano shows off his wheels as he drives in two with a triple!#WinnersWin | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/ixLiIrNB7F
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 15, 2021

Mercer took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Le Bassett led off with a home run to right center on the third pitch he saw. Later on in the inning, with Knight on second base, Yeager hit a two-run home run putting Mercer ahead 5-2.

That's BIG LE! @Le_Bassett11 with the bomb!#WinnersWin | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/9XyS4jAoXu
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 15, 2021

YEAGER BOMB! @rj_yeag1 with the blast! 👀#WinnersWin | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/9bxiI5UxxA
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 15, 2021

The Citadel came back and chipped away at the Bears lead. With runners on second and third, David Moore tallied back-to-back strikeouts for the first two outs of the inning. Mercer went to the pen and the Bulldogs scored when Tommy Green threw a wild pitch making it a 5-3 game.

The Bears got their sixth run of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs, Colby Thomas worked a count to 1-1, and the next pitch he smacked for a home run putting Mercer ahead, 6-3.

The Citadel scored the next two runs of the game. In the top of the sixth inning, Ben Hutchins had 1-2 count and the next pitch he saw he delivered a home run for the Bulldogs. After the next three hitters were retired, the Citadel chipped away in the seventh inning as Jones delivered another RBI single making it 6-5.

The Orange & Black grew the lead back out to two, 7-5, in the bottom of the seventh inning. Mercer scored one on a fielder's choice groundout by Delano.

After a one-two-three inning by Green in the eighth, Mercer went to closer Sutko in the ninth. The Bulldogs bats remained hot in the frame as they scored three runs on three hits and took an 8-7 lead. Brown had a two-run RBI single and Jones put the Bulldogs ahead on a single up the middle.

Mercer came up for the final at-bats and were retired in order and Mercer dropped the second game, 8-7.

Hear from Coach Gibson

Coach @CraigGibson_MU talks about the split of the doubleheader on Saturday against The Citadel. #WinnersWin | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/OL8DEifoWi
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 16, 2021

Records Update
» Mercer: 33-18, 17-7 SoCon
» The Citadel: 12-35, 4-22 SoCon

Pitchers of Record
Game One
» Win: Taylor Lobus (9-3)
» Loss: Cameron Reeves (3-10)
» Save: Luke Sutko (11)

Game Two
» Win: Chace Cooper (2-0)
» Loss: Luke Sutko (3-5)

Notables
» Prior to the start of the doubleheader, Mercer honored its eight seniors on the team.
» RJ Yeager led the Bears at the plate on the day as he had seven hits and hit .778, 7-for-9, on the day.
» Mercer hit four home runs over the two games. Mercer has now hit a home run in 16 straight games.
» Sutko picked up his league-leading eleventh save on the season in the game one victory.
» Yeager has seven hits with four resulting in extra base hits. He had three doubles in the first game of the doubleheader.
» With the game one win for the Bears gives them 33 on the season. Mercer is two wins away from winning 35 games for the 11^th straight season.

Up Next
» Mercer: vs. Georgia Southern (6 p.m., Tuesday, May 18 at OrthoGeorgia Park)
» The Citadel: at College of Charleston (6 p.m., Tuesday, May 18 at The Ballpark at Patriots Point)

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.