Bears Fall To Tennessee Tech

Saturday, March 15

Macon, Ga.

2 p.m.

Mercer University

13-7

Tennessee Tech

15-5

Tennessee Tech

Mercer

3/15/2025 6:06:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

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

MACON – The Mercer baseball team jumped out to an early lead with a five-run third inning, but Tennessee Tech answered with a five-run inning of their own in the seventh en route to a comeback victory by a score of 9-7 on Saturday afternoon.

Parker Lester (2-for-4, 4 RBI), Bradley Frye (2-for-5) and Ty Dalley (1-for-3) each homered for the Bears, including back-to-back shots from Frye and Dalley in the third. Jack Brafa (4-1) earned the win for Tennessee Tech, while Craig Kalkbrenner (0-1) took the loss for Mercer.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Braydon Kersey took the ball to start for the Bears and posted a scoreless first inning, working around a pair of two-out singles to strand runners at the corners. After a 1-2-3 first inning from the Mercer offense, Kersey picked off a runner at first base en route to another scoreless frame in the second. In the bottom of the inning, Brant Baughcum picked up the first hit of the day for the Bears, but was left stranded as the game remained scoreless.

Kersey needed only six pitches in the third, retiring the side in order for his third zero of the afternoon. The Mercer offense got going in the bottom of the third, using an error and HBP to put runners on first and second to start the inning. After a sac bunt moved the runners to second and third, Lester laced a first pitch double into right center to score both runners and give the Bears a 2-0 lead. Stepping in next, Frye got a pitch to hit and did not miss it, going the other way for a two-run home run. The Bears were not done, however. On the very next pitch, Dalley took a big swing of his own and deposited another home run over the center field fence, making the score 5-0 in favor of Mercer.

Despite falling behind, the Golden Eagles refused to go away, using three hits in the fourth to get a run back. In the top of the fifth, the Eagles chipped away once again with a two-run home run to cut the deficit to two.

After 1-2-3 innings from both sides in the sixth, Tennessee Tech used a big inning of their own to take the lead. The Eagles scored five runs in the seventh, including a three-run home run, to take an 8-5 lead.

The Bears got a couple of runs back in the home half of the seventh, as Lester continued his big day by putting a no-doubt home run out to right field to make the score 8-7.

The eighth was another quiet inning, with a Tennessee Tech walk providing the only base runner.

In the top of the ninth, the Bears were able to get two quick outs before the Golden Eagles delivered a double and a single to scratch across a huge insurance run. Now trailing 9-7, the Bears got their first two runners on base to threaten to tie the game in bottom of the ninth. However, the Golden Eagles induced a double play before a strikeout secured a 9-7 final.

The Bears take on Tennessee Tech in the rubber match tomorrow at 1 p.m. at OrthoGeorgia Park. Fans can get their tickets ahead of time by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.