Mercer Uses Long Balls To Knot Up Weekend With Toledo

Saturday, February 17

Macon, Ga.

2 p.m.

Mercer University

Toledo

Mercer Uses Long Balls To Knot Up Weekend With Toledo

2/17/2024 5:14:00 PM | Baseball

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By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

MERCER – Bradley Frye, Brandon Prince and Conner Todaro all hit solo home runs to support solid outings from a trio of Mercer pitchers, and the Bears evened up their weekend series with visiting Toledo on a 5-2 victory over the Rockets on Saturday afternoon at OrthoGeorgia Park.

The long balls marked the first three home runs of the season for the Bears (1-1) who will send Southern Conference Preseason Freshman of the Year Garrett Lambert to the hill for Sunday's 1 p.m. rubber matchup in Macon. Toledo (1-1), which used an error in the top of the 10^th inning to eke out a 5-4 win in Friday's series opener, is expected to counter with sophomore righty R.J. Shunck.

Senior Wesley Franklin (1-0) struck out a pair of batters and surrendered just three hits across three scoreless innings of relief to grab the win for the Orange & Black, while junior Bryant Olson logged his first save of the campaign with a scoreless ninth.

Starter Fred Wilson struck out four and scattered four hits across five solid innings from the hill, but was not awarded a decision.

GAME SUMMARY
FINAL	Mercer 5, Toledo 2
PITCHERS	WP: Wesley Franklin (1-0) LP: Grant Umberger (0-1)
RECORDS	Mercer (1-1); Toledo (1-1

KEY INNINGS
BOT 2	Bradley Frye fouled off two pitches after a 2-and-2 count, and then hit a chip shot off of starter Grant Umberger that sailed over the left field wall and under the scoreboard.
BOT 3	Brandon Prince crushed Grant Umberger's crushed a 1-out offering from Grant Umberger over the left field wall to push Mercer's lead out to 2-0.

MU LEADERS	UT LEADERS
Bradley Frye 1-2, BB, SAC, HR Conner Todaro 1-3, HR Brandon Prince 1-4, HR Wesley Franklin 3.0 IP, 3 H, 2 K	Owen Jackson 2-3, BB Brayden White 2-4, RBI Garret Pike 1-3, BB, 2 R

UP NEXT
The Bears will lock horns with the Rockets in Sunday's series rubber match at OrthoGeorgia Park. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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