Complete Effort Helps Bears Claim Series Over Milwaukee

Sunday, February 16

Macon, Ga.

12 p.m.

Mercer University

2-1

Milwaukee

1-2

Milwaukee

Mercer

Complete Effort Helps Bears Claim Series Over Milwaukee

2/16/2025 3:45:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

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

MACON – Six Mercer pitchers limited Milwaukee to five hits without surrendering a walk and the Bears offense banged out 12 hits in a convincing 10-2 win to take the series on Sunday at OrthoGeorgia Park.

After a back-and-forth first four and half innings, newcomer Drew Johnson broke the game open with a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth, his first hit in a Mercer uniform. Johnson (2-for-4), Ely Brown (2-for-5), Ty Dalley (2-for-3) and Brant Baughcum (3-for-4) all turned in multi-hit performances in a second consecutive double-digit run outing for the Bears. On the mound, Jackson Gaspard got the start for his first career start, turning in four solid innings before giving way to a dominant Bears bullpen. Caden Alvey (2-0) picked up the win for the second day in a row, Terry Busse dominated with three strikeouts in two innings, and Riley Cruce, Jeb Johnson and Kai Decker combined to close out an excellent day on the mound for the Bears. Keagon Kaufmann (0-1) took the loss for Milwaukee.

The Bears jumped in front with two outs in the first inning, using some tricky baserunning to score Ely Brown from third base. Following a hitless second inning, Milwaukee claimed the lead in the top of the third when Camden Kuhnke homered and Justin Hausser delivered an RBI groundout to make the score 2-1.

In the bottom of the frame, Parker Lester continued his hot start to the season with a two-out double to right field. Lester then advanced to third on a passed ball before coming around to score on a wild pitch, evening the score at 2-2.

The score remained level until the bottom of the fifth, when the Bears would break things open with a big inning. Brown, who collected five hits on the weekend, led the inning off with a bunt single. Bradley Frye then reached base via HBP to put two men on with nobody out. From there, the floodgates opened, as consecutive RBI singles from Dalley and Titan Kamaka helped the Bears reclaim the lead. In the next at-bat, Johnson delivered the biggest swing of the game, putting a three-run home run over the left field wall to give the Bears a 7-2 lead.

Following the offensive outburst, Mercer gave the ball to Busse in the top of the sixth for his first outing in the Orange & Black. Busse, a transfer from Georgia Tech, looked dominant in his two-inning stint, punching out three batters without allowing a base runner.

The Bears added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single from Baughcum and a Milwaukee error. Crucen another newcomer, came in to pitch for the Bears in the top of the eighth, striking out the only batter he faced before giving way to Jeb Johnson, who retired both batters he faced.

The nail in the coffin came in the bottom of the eighth, as Ty Dalley capped a five-hit weekend with a solo home run to dead center field to push the lead to 10-2. Another Mercer pitcher made their debut in the ninth inning, as Kai Decker closed the door on the win with three strikeouts.

The Bears will hit the road to Kennesaw State on Wednesday for a tilt with the Owls before returning to OrthoGeorgia Park for a series with Kent State starting on Friday. Fans can get their tickets ahead of time and skip the line by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.