Walking off the Keydets in Home Finale

Sunday, May 15

Macon, Ga.

1 P.M.

Mercer University

38-13, 0

VMI

16-35, 0

VMI

Mercer

Photo by: James Thomas

5/15/2022 6:16:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Mercer drops VMI 8-7 in 13

MACON, Ga. – Collin Price hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 13^th inning to lift Mercer to an 8-7 victory in the Southern Conference series finale against VMI Sunday afternoon at OrthoGeorgia Park.

The Bears (38-13, 11-7 SoCon) loaded the bases after Trevor Austin and Bill Knight walked and then Treyson Hughes singled to right field. Price turned on the first pitch from Ben Capehart and grounded it through the left side of the infield, allowing Austin to touch home with the winning run.

B13 | WALK-OFF!@Collin_Pricee grounds a single through the left side of the infield!

Bears win 8-7! pic.twitter.com/ScRz7DVyP9
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 15, 2022

Mercer took a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when Price hit his second home run of the day, a three-run shot to right-center.

The Bears extended their advantage to 6-3 in the seventh as Knight scored on a wild pitch.

However, the Keydets (16-35, 6-12 SoCon) battled back even with three runs in the eighth.

After the game entered extra innings, VMI briefly took a 7-6 lead in the top of the 12^th on Justin Starke's RBI single.

Mercer stayed alive with the tying run in the bottom of the inning.

With runners on first and second, Will Mapes hammered a double off the wall in left-center field. Jozsef Rohrbacher was able to score the tying run from second, but David Burke was tagged out at the plate attempting to score from first.

Fred Wilson, who came out of the bullpen to pitch in the 11^th inning, walked the first batter of the 13^th. However, he was able to throw that runner out at second on a force out from a bunt attempt. Wilson also was able to make another out at second on a groundball, but an errant throw back to first base allowed Trey Morgan to reach second.

Wilson then intentionally walked Zac Morris. After a passed ball allowed both runners to move into scoring position, the call was made to intentionally walk Will Knight to load the bases.

Wilson's first pitch to Brad Culpepper was popped up in foul territory where Angelo DiSpigna made the catch, ending the threat and setting up the Bears' heroics in the bottom of the frame.

Wilson (5-0) received the win after giving up two hits and an unearned run in three innings of work.

Mercer compiled 14 hits at the plate. Price was 3-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs. Hughes also had three hits, including a solo homer in the third. Knight had a homer in his two hits, while Mapes added a pair of knocks, including an RBI double.

Josh Harlow fanned nine batters in his five-inning start on the mound. The righthander limited VMI to only two hits and left the game with a 5-3 lead.

Capehart (0-1) took the loss for the Keydets after allowing two hits, two walks and a run in the final stanza.

The Bears will return to action Tuesday night at Georgia Southern. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Statesboro.