
Tuesday Night Statement
3/29/2022 9:47:00 PM | Baseball
Mercer uses big early innings to beat Georgia State
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The Bears (21-5) scored five runs in the second and four more in the third to pull away early from the Panthers (15-10).
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Mercer scored all five of its second-inning runs with two outs.
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Jozsef Rohrbacher broke the scoring seal with a two-run single. Colby Thomas added an RBI single and then Bill Knight drove in two on a single as well.
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The Bears continued their momentum in the following panel.
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Antonio Brown laid down a bunt with two runners on, but the ball was thrown away at first, allowing Angelo DiSpigna to score from second base. Three batters later, Thomas cleared the bases with a three-run homer over the wall in left field.
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After Georgia State scored its first two runs in the top of the sixth, Mercer responded with two of its own.
COACH GIBSON'S THOUGHTS
Hear from Head Coach @CraigGibson_MU after an impressive Tuesday Night win over the Panthers!#WinnersWin | #LightTheBridge pic.twitter.com/iM6XzxXhmf
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) March 30, 2022
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Treyson Hughes clubbed his seventh home run of the season, while Knight scored later in the stanza on a wild pitch.
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Hughes came up big again in the seventh, as the freshman hit a two-run double to push the lead to 13-2. He later scored on Knight's RBI groundout.
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David Burke drove in the Bears' final tally of the night in the eighth on a fielder's choice.
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The Panthers were able to push across three late runs in the ninth before the game came to an end.
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Four Mercer batters finished with two hits apiece. Thomas was 2 for 4 with four RBIs, including his ninth homer of the season. Hughes was 2 for 5 with three RBIs on a double and a home run. Knight had two hits and three RBIs, while Brown added a pair of singles.
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Colton Cosper (3-0) earned the win after a strong start on the mound. The southpaw scattered four hits and a walk while striking out five.
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Overall, the Mercer pitching staff racked up 12 strikeouts.
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Georgia State starter Dylan Matela (0-1) was tagged with the loss after giving up five runs in only 1.2 innings.
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The Bears will return to the road this weekend, traveling to South Orange, New Jersey, for a three-game series with Seton Hall. The set opens Friday at 4 p.m.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Cosper, Colton (3-0)
L: Matela, Dylan (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Riesselmann, Kyle 1 ; Boynton, Luke 2
RBI: Ryerson, Max 1 ; Riesselmann, Kyle 2 ; Cheney, Griffin 1
SF: Cheney, Griffin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ryerson, Max 1 ; Jones, Cameron 1 ; Marchman, Blaine 1 ; Donohoe, Jesse 1 ; Ponder, Jonathan 1

Batting:
2B: Thomas, Colby 1 ; Hughes, Treyson 1
HR: Thomas, Colby 1 ; Hughes, Treyson 1
RBI: Thomas, Colby 4 ; Hughes, Treyson 3 ; Knight, Bill 3 ; Rohrbacher, Jozsef 2 ; Burke, David 1
SH: Brown, Antonio 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Thomas, Colby 3 ; Hughes, Treyson 2 ; Knight, Bill 1 ; Price, Collin 1 ; DiSpigna, Angelo 2 ; Mapes, William 1 ; Brown, Antonio 1 ; Franklin, Wesley 1 ; Archibald, Ryan 1 ; Rohrbacher, Jozsef 2
HBP: Thomas, Colby 1 ; DiSpigna, Angelo 1