Mercer Drops a Heartbreaker to Wofford, 8-7

Friday, May 28

Greenville, S.C.

3:30 p.m.

Mercer University

35-22

Wofford

36-20

Mercer

Wofford

Photo by: Southern Conference

5/28/2021 8:49:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

The Bears lost in walk-off fashion for the second straight day.

By: Travis Rae

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Mercer baseball team suffered a heartbreaking loss for the second consecutive day at the 2021 SoCon tournament. The Wofford Terriers used a two-out home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to hand the Bears an 8-7 loss and eliminate them from tournament play.

Angelo DiSpigna led the Orange & Black with three hits and three RBI. He hit two home runs in the contest. Bill Knight and Colby Thomas followed with two hits each. Knight had a double and a homer in the loss.

Mercer struck early in the contest against the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year, Elliot Carney. Knight led off with a double, and with one out, DiSpigna smashed his 14^th homer of the year, putting Mercer ahead, 2-0.

Let's just watch this one fly outta here! 👀#WinnersWin | @AngeloDiSpigna pic.twitter.com/YY0K0OJLKv
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 28, 2021

Wofford answered back in the bottom of the frame as it had the bases loaded with one out when Jack Renwick hit a sacrifice fly for the first run for the Terriers. With runners on the corners, Trey Yunger stole second, and Lawson Hill scored on a throwing error to tie the game.

The Bears came back in the top of the second inning. With two outs, Trevor Austin started the party with a single through the left side. On the next pitch, Knight delivered a 418-foot bomb, putting the Bears back on top by a pair of runs, 4-2. Mercer continued to show its power in the top of the third inning as DiSpigna led off the frame with his second bomb of the game. His solo shot over the center field fence gave Mercer a three-run lead, 5-2.

This is how the Bears took the lead in the top of the second.@Bill_Knight4 with the 🚀#WinnersWin | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/KhLnrGdQj5
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 28, 2021

That's a tape measure shot by @AngeloDiSpigna!#WinnersWin | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/VzDq0CDo7Y
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 28, 2021

Mercer continued to add runs to the scoreboard in the fourth inning. Thomas led off with a single, and David Burke walked putting two one. After back-to-back ground outs, Yeager hit a groundball to third, and Burke broke for third causing the third baseman to make a wild throw, which led to two runs and extended the Bears' advantage to 7-3.

Bears scored two on this play and now lead 7-3#WinnersWin | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/QTQJAfXrfz
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 28, 2021

After allowing three runs in the first three innings, Delano settled in and retired the Terriers in order in the fourth and the first two in the fifth before issuing a walk. Following the base on balls, Delano got Renwick to ground out to end the inning.

Wofford got three runs back in the bottom of the sixth inning which began thanks to John Dempsey's solo home run. After a walk, and a sac bunt, Shane Lussier hit a double that scored another run for the Terriers, while the Terriers' third run came in on a single by Hill. The three runs cut Mercer's lead to just one run, 7-6.

Wofford bounced back in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie the game. Lussier drew a walk and stole second base with two outs before scoring the game-tying run when Colin Davis hit an RBI double.

In the ninth inning of the contest, Josh Farmer retired the first two batters of the frame. With a 1-0 count, Dempsey hit a high fly ball down the right field line, which hit the foul pole and gave Wofford an 8-7 walk-off win.

Hear From Coach Gibson

Head Coach @CraigGibson_MU talks about the loss to Wofford and the 2021 season #WinnersWin | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/hy3OlCBdV6
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 29, 2021

Records Update
» Mercer: 35-22
» Wofford: 36-20

Pitchers of Record
» Win: Dalton Rhadans (6-0)
» Loss: Josh Farmer (4-1)

Notables
» Mercer hit three home runs in the contest. DiSpigna had two and Bill Knight added one.
» Mercer had five extra base hits in the loss, three homers, and two doubles, all by Knight and DiSpigna.
» The Orange & Black lost in walk-off fashion for the second straight day.
» Mercer scored all seven runs in the first four innings.
» The Bears have won 35 games for 11 straight seasons.

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.