Mercer University
Kent State
Baseball Returns Home For Three-Game Set With Kent State
2/20/2025 3:50:00 PM | Baseball
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| Kent State at Mercer | Friday, February 21Â - Sunday, February 23 | 4 PM, 2 PM, 1 PM ET | ||
| Site | Location | OrthoGeorgia Park at Claude Smith Field | Macon, Ga. | |
| Links | Friday, 4 p.m. ET:  Live Stats | TV: N/A Expected Pitching Match-Up:  MER LHP Colton Cosper (0-1, 9.00 ERA) vs. KENT RHP Gavin Jones (1-0, 1.80 ERA)         Saturday, 2 p.m. ET:  Live Stats  | TV:  N/A Expected Pitching Match-Up:  MER RHP Braydon Kersey (0-0, 9.00 ERA) vs. KENT LHP Eric Chalus (0-1, 12.00 ERA)            Sunday, 1 p.m. ET:  Live Stats  | TV: N/A Expected Pitching Match-Up:  MER RHP Jackson Gaspard (0-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. KENT RHP Jacob Bean (0-1, 9.00 ERA) |
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Midweek Review
After falling behind 4-0 in the first inning, the Mercer bullpen delivered 8-1/3 shutout innings and the Bears offense came through with a six-run fifth inning to help the Bears secure a midweek win over Kennesaw State on Wednesday night by a score of 9-4.
After coming out of the bullpen to collect the third out in the bottom of the first, Jeb Johnson delivered three scoreless innings with five strikeouts to keep the Bears in the game. The Bears were able to scratch across a couple of runs in the third inning to cut the deficit to two before the offense erupted to put up a crooked number in the top of the fifth. Ely Brown and Bradley Frye led off the inning with a HBP and a walk, respectively, to set up a two RBI double from Ty Dalley to tie things up at four. Following a fly out, Brant Baughcum crushed a ball off of the base of the wall in left field to bring home Dalley and give the Bears a 5-4 lead. However, the scoring did not stop there. Drew Johnson would draw a walk in the next at-bat before Titan Kamaka extended the lead with an RBI single to left. Mercer scratched across two more runs in the inning before it was all said and done, with Johnson and Parker Lester coming across to score on a pair of wild pitches.Â
From that point on, the Bears bullpen dominated, as Craig Kalkbrenner, Collin Ewaldsen, Kai Decker and Terry Busse combined to shut the door on a 9-4 win. Johnson (1-0) picked up the win for his first victory in the Orange & Black.
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Scouting Kent State
This weekend marks the first-ever meeting between the Bears and Golden Flashes. Kent State opened the season at the South Alabama Invitational last weekend, defeating Eastern Kentucky on Friday before falling to South Alabama on Saturday and SIUE on Sunday.
Kent State was limited to 11 runs on the weekend, despite hitting .278 as a team. Hayden Jatczak led the way offensively, going 5-for-11 with four doubles. Sawyer Solitaria also had a big weekend at the plate, slugging two home runs. Friday night starter Gavin Jones was excellent for the Golden Flashes in their win over Eastern Kentucky, allowing one earned run in five innings with five strikeouts.
Kent State was picked to finish second in the MAC preseason poll and garnered two first place votes. The Golden Flashes went 27-27 in 2024, including a 17-13 record in MAC play.
