Baseball Downs Wofford in Series Opener

Thursday, May 20

Spartanburg, S.C.

4 p.m.

Mercer University

35-18, 18-7

Wofford

33-19, 19-9

Mercer

Wofford

Photo by: Mitch Robinson

5/20/2021 8:55:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Mercer won its 35th game of the season with the win over Wofford

By: Travis Rae

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Mercer baseball team won its 35^th game of the season with a 7-5 victory over Wofford on Thursday. The win makes it eleven straight seasons with 35 or more victories for the Bears.

Mercer can claim the Southern Conference regular season title with a win on Friday. The Bears and Terriers are set to square off in a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m.

Collin Price and Garett Delano led the way for the Bears as they each picked up three hits. Price and Delano combined to drive in six of the seven runs. Delano also earned the win as he went 6.2 innings and tallied three Ks.

Mercer's offense got off to a quick start against the Terriers. After the first hit of the inning, RJ Yeager and Brandon Michie tallied back-to-back singles. Delano proceeded to hit an opposite field double that scored both runners. After a ground out moved Delano to third, Price singled him home, and Mercer led 3-0 after the first inning.

Bears take the lead after a two-run RBI double by @Garett__Delano #WinnersWin | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/wNB4hfqXYK
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 20, 2021

Wofford got one run back in the bottom of the first inning. Nolen Hester singled to lead-off the inning and went to second on a sac bunt. Following the second out of the inning, a groundout that moved the runner to third, Trey Yunger drove him in with a single. Yunger was thrown out trying to steal second base to end the inning.

Following the run for Wofford, Delano settled in and surrendered just two hits over the second, third and fourth frames. In the third inning, Michie made a sliding group and doubled off the runner at first.

The Bears extended their lead in the top of the fifth inning. Yeager drew a walk, and Michie followed with a double to right field, putting two in scoring position. Delano picked up an RBI on a ground out that scored Yeager. Angelo DiSpigna followed with an RBI single up the middle, making it 5-1 in favor of the Bears.

M5 | Mercer 5, Wofford 1 @AngeloDiSpigna extends the Bears lead with an RBI single up the middle#WinnersWin | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/DnAdIVLu2g
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 20, 2021

The Terriers got one run back with one out in the bottom of the fifth when Brennen Dorighi hit a solo home run down the right field line to cut Mercer's lead to 5-2. Delano composed himself, and on the next pitch, he made an outstanding play to get the second out before getting a ground out to end the frame.

Wofford continued to chip away at the Bears' lead and scored one run in the seventh inning. With a runner on second, Dorighi singled up the middle to score a run. After a pitching change and a walk, Taylor Lobus got a ground out to end the inning.

Mercer got the one run back in the top of the eighth inning. With one out, Price extended the Bears' home run streak to 18 straight games when he hit a solo shot to left field, increasing Mercer's lead to three runs, 6-3.

And the home run streak is extended! Mercer now has hit a homer in 18 straight games after @Collin_Pricee's homer!#WinnersWin | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/OTuV8zZVWc
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 20, 2021

Wofford's bats started heating up in the bottom of the eighth. A leadoff single by Hester got things started. On the first out, a strikeout, Hester went to second on a wild pitch. He scored on a Lawson Hill single up the middle that cut the Bears' lead to a pair of runs, 6-4. After a hit by pitch loaded the bases, Dorighi drew a bases loaded walk, trimming the lead down to one, 6-5. Jackson Kelley came out of the pen and got Ryan Galanie looking to end the inning with the bases full.

Mercer's bats came back to life in the top of the ninth inning. Trevor Austin led off with a single and moved to second on a sac bunt. After the second out of the inning, Michie was intentionally walked, and Delano followed with an RBI single up the middle, putting Mercer back ahead by two.

Huge RBI single by @Garett__Delano puts the Bears ahead by two, 7-5#WinnersWin | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/Rrf3zKvVYX
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 20, 2021

After a groundout to start the bottom of the ninth, the Terriers hit a single and had a batter hit by a pitch, putting the tying run on base. Lawson Hill came to the plate, and Kelley got him to strikeout swinging for the second out of the inning. After a double steal put the tying run on second, Kelley got Yunger to hit a grounder up the middle where Austin showed off his impressive range, throwing him out at first to end the game. Mercer won its 35^th game of the season, and the Bears have now won 35 games in each of the last 11 seasons.

WOW! Trevor Austin showing off the range to end the game!#WinnersWin | #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/cYPiDrbKJb
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 20, 2021

Hear from Coach Gibson

🗣 @CraigGibson_MU talks about the win over Wofford on Thursday#WinnersWin | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/nQjhjkHJVv
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 21, 2021

Records Update
» Mercer: 35-18, 18-7 SoCon
» Wofford: 33-19, 19-9 SoCon

Pitchers of Record
» Win: Garett Delano (6-1)
» Loss: Josh Vitus (3-4)
» Save: Jackson Kelley (1)

Notables
» For the eleventh straight season, Mercer has won 35 or more games.
» Price hit a home run in the top of the eighth inning, extending the Bears streak to 18 straight games with a homer.
» Delano had himself a game. He picked up his sixth win of the season and went 3-for-5 at the plate, driving in four runs.
» Price also had three hits on the game and picked up two RBI.
» Mercer tallied six strikeouts on the day. Kelley had two.
» Kelley picked up his first save of the season for the Bears as he went 1.1 innings in relief to close the game.

Up Next
» Mercer: at Wofford ((DH) 2 p.m., Friday, May 21 at Russell C. King Field)
» Wofford: vs. Mercer ((DH) 2 p.m., Friday, May 21 at Russell C. King Field)

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.