Mercer University
32-23, 0
Samford University
32-22, 0
Mercer Drops Final Series to Samford
5/20/2023 6:08:00 PM | Baseball
HOW IT HAPPENED
Samford started strong again with seven runs in the second off of two homers, a single, and a double.
With two outs on the board, Bradley Frye hit an inside the park home run off the center field wall, scoring Carter Sanford who reached on a hit-by-pitch.
Inside the park homer from @BradleyFrye01 🚨#GoodToGreat || #WinnersWin pic.twitter.com/97IqMwEH2W
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 20, 2023
Holton McGaha struck out two in the third, but the Bulldogs added another on an RBI single. Samford scored three more in the fourth. Garrett Sloan retired the side in the fifth, including a strikeout of leadoff hitter, Garrett Staton.
The Bears loaded the bases in the fifth with Treyson Hughes, Jozsef Rohrbacher, and Eric Toth. A wild pitch plated Hughes and advanced the other runners forward. Sanford hit a ball off the right center wall to score both baserunners.
.@carter_sanford drives two more in for the Bears! pic.twitter.com/UhqCBtOSwy
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 20, 2023
In the top of the sixth, Josh Harlow entered on the bump for his first appearance since March 17 and recorded a pair of strikeouts.
First K back for @JoshHarlow10 👏#GoodToGreat || #WinnersWin pic.twitter.com/tpU1It9K2v
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 20, 2023
Leading off the bottom of the seventh, Toth hit his 19th home run of the season. This was his sixth home run in five games, logging one in each contest dating back to Sunday with two on Tuesday.
6️⃣ home runs in 5️⃣ games for @eric_toth19!#GoodToGreat || #WinnersWin pic.twitter.com/wJ5qaBuuDX
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 20, 2023
Samford responded with a three-run homer in the eighth. Jess Ackerman retired the side in the ninth, striking out the final Bulldog batter.
The Bears started a rally in the ninth, but it was not enough. After Toth doubled to open the inning, he was brought home on a sacrifice fly by Trevor Austin. On the next pitch, Jackson Cherry hit his 12th home run of the season. Frye walked and Ty Dalley singled, but the Bulldogs got the final out needed to win.
🍒💣 @JacksonCherry9 #GoodToGreat || #WinnersWin pic.twitter.com/70gME22nQI
— Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) May 20, 2023
NOTES
- Josh Harlow made his first appearance since March 17 on the mound.
- Bradley Frye hit his third home run of the weekend and fourth of the season. Frye hit one in each game of the series, concluded by his inside the park shot on Saturday.
- Eric Toth hit his 19th home run of the season. He has recorded a home run in each of the last five games.
- Jackson Cherry hit his 12th home run of the season.
- Treyson Hughes is on a 17-game hitting streak and has reached base in 21-straight games.
- Jozsef Rohrbacher has reached base in 17-straight games.
T2 | Mercer 0, Samford 1 Steele homered to left field.
T2 | Mercer 0, Samford 2 Rodriguez singled to left field, scoring Howe.
T2 | Mercer 0, Samford 5 Davis homered to right field, scoring Rodriguez and Staton.
T2 | Mercer 0, Samford 7 Steele doubled down the left field line, scoring Klein and Anderson.
B2 | Mercer 2, Samford 7 Frye homered to center field, inside the park, scoring Sanford.
T3 | Mercer 2, Samford 8 Davis singled to right field, scoring Bennett.
T4 | Mercer 2, Samford 9 Steele homered to left center.
T4 | Mercer 2, Samford 10 Walton singled to left center, scoring Howe.
B5 | Mercer 3, Samford 10 Hughes scored on a wild pitch.
B5 | Mercer 5, Samford 10 Sanford singled to right center, scoring Rohrbacher and Toth.
T6 | Mercer 5, Samford 11 Anderson homered to left center.
B7 | Mercer 6, Samford 11 Toth homered to left field.
T8 | Mercer 6, Samford 14 Walton homered to right center, scoring Steele and Strand.
B9 | Mercer 7, Samford 14 Austin flied out to right field, scoring Toth.
B9 | Mercer 8, Samford 14 Cherry homered to right center.
UP NEXT: Mercer earned a double bye as the No. 2 seed in the SoCon tournament and will play on Friday, May 26 at 12:30 p.m. at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C.
FOLLOW THE BEARS:
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Will Lynch (4-4)
L: Wilson, Fred (1-4)
Batting:
2B: Stephen Klein 1 ; Lucas Steele 1 ; Garrett Howe 2
HR: Jayden Davis 1 ; John Anderson 1 ; Lucas Steele 2 ; Aaron Walton 1
RBI: Jayden Davis 4 ; John Anderson 1 ; Lucas Steele 4 ; Josh Rodriguez 1 ; Aaron Walton 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Garrett Staton 1 ; Jayden Davis 1 ; Stephen Klein 1 ; John Anderson 2 ; Lucas Steele 3 ; Garrett Howe 2 ; Matthew Strand 1 ; Josh Rodriguez 1 ; Aaron Walton 1 ; Andrew Bennett 1
SB: Garrett Staton 2 ; Garrett Howe 2 ; Aaron Walton 1
CS: Andrew Bennett 1
Batting:
2B: Toth, Eric 1
HR: Toth, Eric 1 ; Cherry, Jackson 1 ; Frye, Bradley 1
RBI: Toth, Eric 1 ; Sanford, Carter 2 ; Austin, Trevor 1 ; Cherry, Jackson 1 ; Frye, Bradley 2
SF: Austin, Trevor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hughes, Treyson 1 ; Rohrbacher, Jozsef 1 ; Toth, Eric 3 ; Sanford, Carter 1 ; Cherry, Jackson 1 ; Frye, Bradley 1
SB: Brown, Antonio 1
HBP: Rohrbacher, Jozsef 1 ; Sanford, Carter 1 ; Frye, Bradley 1
