Bears Win Sixth Straight To Sweep Kent State

Sunday, February 23

Macon, Ga.

1 p.m.

Mercer University

6-1

Kent State

1-5

Kent State

Mercer

2/23/2025 5:17:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

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

MACON – Mercer shortstop Bradley Frye capped a big weekend with four hits and Lawson Cole delivered three – 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen to lead the Bears to their sixth straight win and a series sweep over Kent State by a score of 7-5 on Sunday at OrthoGeorgia Park.

Frye (4-for-5), tallied two doubles and three RBI, Parker Lester (3-for-5) drove in a pair of runs, Ely Brown (3 BB's, 1 HBP) scored two runs, and Michael Graziano (2-for-4) hit his first career home run to power the Bears offensively. Cole (1-0) was lights-out in relief to pick up the first win of his career, while Jeb Johnson continued his outstanding start to the season by earning the save. Jacob Bean (0-2) took the loss for the Golden Flashes.

Neither offense was able to get anything going early in the game, as both starters posted clean innings through the first two frames. Mercer starter Jackson Gaspard cruised through his first two innings of work, allowing only base runner. However, the Flashes got to the right-hander in the top of the third, scoring three runs on three hits to take the lead.

As was the case all weekend, the Bears battled back with a three-spot of their own in the home half. Frye started the scoring for the Bears, ripping a double down the left field line to score Graziano and Brown and cut the deficit to one. With two outs in the inning, Parker Lester put a hard-hit line drive out to left field that caused the outfielder to slip, allowing Frye to score and Lester to slide into third base with the Bears' first triple of the season.

After a leadoff HBP in the top of the fourth, Cole entered the game for Mercer and promptly induced a double play and a soft line out to turn things back over to his offense. With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Graziano continued his excellent weekend by crushing a no-doubt home to left center and give the Bears a 4-3 lead. In the next at-bat, Brown drew a walk to force a Kent State pitching change. The Bears welcomed the new Flashes pitcher with a stolen base by Brown and an RBI single from Frye, extending the lead to two.

Cole worked another quick inning in the fifth, working around a one out to single to post another zero. In the bottom of the frame, Drew Johnson smacked a double into the right field corner, scoring Lester from second base for the Bears' sixth run of the afternoon.

The excellent outing continued for Cole in the sixth, as the right-hander retired the side in order with two strikeouts and a fly out. The Flashes finally started to get to Cole in the top of the seventh, putting runners on second and third to spell the end of the day for the redshirt sophomore. Micah Takac entered the game for Mercer, getting the batter to lift a pop up into foul territory that Ty Dalley was able to snag with a nice over-the-shoulder catch for the third out of the inning.

After another quiet inning for the Bears in the bottom of the seventh, Kent State threatened again in the eighth. The Flashes worked a leadoff walk that came around to score on a single, cutting the Mercer lead to two. However, Riley Cruce came up with a strikeout for a big second out before giving way to Craig Kalkbrenner, who recorded the third out of the inning on a fly out.

Needing an insurance run, Frye and Lester came through for the Bears once again in the bottom of the eighth with a double and an RBI single, respectively, to push the lead back to three.

The insurance run proved to be crucial, as the Flashes mounted a rally in the top of the ninth for the third day in a row. After Collin Ewaldsen got the leadoff man to ground out, the Flashes worked a walk before a double to right field brought the tying run to the plate. In the next-at bat, Ewaldsen induced a fly ball to right field for the second out that scored the runner from third, making it a 7-5 game. Another walk would prompt a pitching change, as the Bears turned to Jeb Johnson to finish it off. Johnson worked the count to a ball and a strike, but a single to center field on the next pitch looked like it might bring another run home for the Flashes. However, the runner at third base tried to hold up after rounding the base and found himself caught in no man's land, allowing the Bears to tag him out trying to dive back into the third for the final out of the game.

The Bears look for their seventh consecutive win on Tuesday when they welcome Florida A&M to OrthoGeorgia Park at 6 p.m. for the first of two midweek contests. Fans can get their tickets ahead of time and skip the line by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.