Four Home Runs Propel The Bears Past Monmouth In Series Sweep On Sunday

Sunday, February 25

Macon, Ga.

1 p.m.

Mercer University

6-1

Monmouth

1-6

Monmouth

Mercer

Four Home Runs Propel The Bears Past Monmouth In Series Sweep On Sunday

2/25/2024 3:43:00 PM | Baseball

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MACON -- Junior Parker Lester put together a stellar showing at the plate Sunday, hitting two home runs to help help the Mercer Bears (6-1, 0-0) sweep the Monmouth Hawks (1-6, 0-0) 10-1.

Freshman Garrett Lambert (2-0) got the win for Mercer. The right-hander went five innings, giving up one run on six hits, allowing one walk and striking out four. Freshman Cade Cosper also pitched well, going two shutout innings while allowing one hit, walking none and striking out three.

Parker Lester went 3-for-3 at the plate, supplementing his two home runs with a double while driving in five runs. Senior Brandon Prince added to Lester's power-hitting performance by going 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI. Senior Ben Olson also hit a home run for the Bears, going 2-for-4 overall.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Bears went three up, three down in the top of the first and got the scoring started early, putting three runs on the board in the bottom the first inning with the Lester's homer.

The Hawks failed to push any runs across before the Bears built on their lead in the third inning. Mercer scored twice on Lester's two-run homer, which brought the score to 5-0 in favor of the Bears.

Mercer kept Monmouth scoreless before building their lead to 6-0 the following inning. The Bears picked up a run on Ben Olson's solo home run off Monmouth junior Kevin Opanel.

The Hawks gained ground, closing the gap to 6-1 until Mercer added some insurance in the seventh. The three-run frame for the Bears was punctuated by a two-RBI double from senior Conner Todaro bringing the Mercer advantage to 9-1.

The Bears held Monmouth scoreless before expanding their lead to 10-1. Mercer scored once on an RBI single off the bat of Ely Brown. The score remained 10-1 for the rest of the game, as the Bears coasted to the win.

GAME NOTES
» Lester led the Bears at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a double, two home runs and five RBI.
» Mercer took a 3-0 lead in the bottom half of the first and didn't surrender that lead for the remainder of the game.
» Four Bears had multiple hits in the ballgame.
» The Bears out-hit the Hawks at a 12-7 clip.
» Mercer went 3-for-9 (.333) with runners in scoring position.
» Mercer pitchers limited Monmouth to just 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
» Mercer pitchers faced 35 Monmouth hitters in the game, allowing six ground balls and 13 fly balls while striking out seven.
» Monmouth was led offensively by senior Austin Denlinger, who went 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI.
» Sophomore Jimmy Wigo led the Hawks pitching staff, throwing 2.1 scoreless innings.