Offense Dominates, Newcomers Shine On Mound In Win Over Milwaukee

Saturday, February 15

Macon, Ga.

2 p.m.

Mercer University

1-1

Milwaukee

1-1

Milwaukee

Mercer

Offense Dominates, Newcomers Shine On Mound In Win Over Milwaukee

2/15/2025 5:30:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Donovan Schultz, donovan.schultz@live.mercer.edu

MACON – Senior Parker Lester smashed two home runs and four newcomers impressed on the mound in their Mercer debuts to power the Bears to their first win of the season on Saturday afternoon, taking down Milwaukee 12-4.

The Bears bounced back from a series-opening loss in a big way, dominating the Panthers with two four-run innings and 12 strikeouts on the mound to even the series. Lester (2-for-5) collected 4 RBI, while Bradley Frye (2-for-5) homered for the second day in a row and Ty Dalley (2-for-4) hit his first home run of the season. Ely Brown also tallied two hits and two RBI, while newcomer Brant Baughcum (2-for-2) joined the two-hit club as well. Junior College transfer Caden Alvey secured his first win as a Bear with two shutout frames, with Logan Schulfer taking the loss for Milwaukee.

Freshman Braydon Kersey started on the hill for the Bears, allowing a solo home run in the first inning before collecting his first career strikeout to close the frame. In the bottom of the inning, Frye smoked his second opposite-field home run in as many days, driving in Brown to give the Bears a lead they would never relinquish.

Kersey settled into a groove in the second inning, retiring the Panthers in order. The Bears would then break the game open in their half of the inning. Baughcum led off the inning with a single, Zack Thompson was hit by a pitch, and Brown poked a single to left to score Baughcum from second. After a flyout, Lester hit his second home run of the series, a three-run blast to right field to make the score 6-1.

After a pair of 1-2-3 half-innings, Milwaukee fought back with a three-run fourth. Alvey entered for Mercer in the fifth, stranding a runner at second with the help of an impressive catch on the run by Brown in center field. The Bears pounced in the bottom half, as Lester snuck his third home run of the weekend over the right field wall before Dalley crushed a towering blast to right field for back-to-back jacks.

In the top of the sixth, Alvey worked a clean inning, capped by two punch-outs. He would give way to freshman Craig Kalkbrenner in the seventh for his collegiate debut, who induced a pair of groundouts and a pop-up to retire the side.

Dalley led off the bottom of the frame with a double and scored on a throwing error to push the lead to 7-1. Drew Johnson and Baughcum then walked to load the bases, setting up Kai Decker to collect his first career RBI with a sac fly to center. Backstop Zack Thompson got in on the action in the next at-bat, executing a squeeze play to score Johnson. Finally, Brown ripped an RBI single to center before being thrown out trying to stretch it into a double to cap the four-run outburst.

Collin Ewaldsen, another freshman phenom, took the ball in the top half of the eighth, surrendering a leadoff single before striking out the side in his collegiate debut. In the top of the ninth, Cade Cosper collected a pair of strikeouts to wrap up the win for the Bears.

The Bears will look to take the series against Milwaukee at OrthoGeorgia Park tomorrow at noon. Fans can get their tickets ahead of time and skip the line by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.