Bears Drop Extra-Innings Heartbreaker To The Citadel

Friday, March 21

Charleston, S.C.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

15-8, 0

The Citadel

12-11, 0

Mercer

The Citadel

Bears Drop Extra-Innings Heartbreaker To The Citadel

3/21/2025 10:39:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

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

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Mercer baseball team battled for 11 innings but came up just short, falling to The Citadel by a score of 6-5 in Charleston on Friday night.

Bradley Frye (2-for-4) homered twice and Parker Lester (2-for-5) added a home run of his own to lead the Bears at the plate. Jess Ackerman (1-2) took a tough-luck loss, totaling career highs in innings pitched ( 6 – 1/3) and strikeouts (10) while allowing just one run on two hits and one walk. Anthony Hausner (1-1) got the win for The Citadel.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Just like in Tuesday's game, Frye got things started with a bang in the first inning. With two outs in the inning, the Bears' shortstop pounced on a pitch over the plate, pulling a ball over the left field fence for his team-leading eighth home run of the season, giving the Bears a 1-0 lead.

The Bulldogs answered right back in their half of the first, using four hits to put up three runs and grab the lead.

Both offenses were quiet through the next two innings, with Colton Cosper working a pair of 1-2-3 innings for the Bears. In the top of the fourth, Ty Dalley led off for Mercer and found the left center field gap to pick up a hustle double. After a fly out, Lester stepped in and took a 2-0 pitch the other way, driving a home run out to left field for his sixth long ball of the season to tie things up at three.

Following a pair of strikeouts from Cosper to strand runners at first and second in the bottom of the fourth, Frye stayed red-hot by crushing a no-doubt home run to left center in the top of the fifth, putting the Bears back on top.

However, just as they had in the first inning, The Citadel answered with a couple of runs of their own to regain a 5-4 lead. With one out in the inning and a man on second, Ackerman entered from the bullpen and struck out two to squash the threat.

Ackerman rolled from that point forward, setting down the Bulldogs in order in the sixth and seventh innings to keep the deficit at one.

With the Bears down to their final six outs, Drew Johnson led off the eighth and sparked a rally. After drawing a walk, Johnson swiped second and advanced to third when the throw from the catcher got away. Following a strikeout, Dalley bounced a chopper to first base, who threw home to try and catch a streaking Johnson. In a bang-bang play at the plate, Johnson avoided the tag before sneaking his hand across the plate to score the tying run.

Ackerman mowed down the Bulldogs in the eighth and ninth, while the Bears were held off the scoreboard in the ninth as well to force extra innings.

In the top half of the tenth, Johnson worked a leadoff walk before advancing to second on a sac bunt. However, the Bulldogs were able to induce a groundout and a pop up to escape. In the home half, Ackerman got a fly out and a strikeout before issuing a walk, marking his first baserunner in 17 plate appearances. The next Bulldogs batter hit a line drive right at Johnson in left for the third out, sending the game to the 11^th inning.

In the top of the 11^th, Ely Brown worked a two-out walk to a put the go-ahead run on base. Zack Thompson stepped in next and hit a ball on the screws, but the Bulldogs right-fielder was positioned perfectly to make the catch and end the inning.

The Citadel finally broke through in the bottom of the 11^th, using a two-out single and a steal to put a runner in scoring position. In the next at-bat, the Bulldogs tapped a ground ball to first base and were able to win the race to the bag, allowing the runner at second to take off for home and dive in for the winning run.

The Bears are back in action tomorrow for game two with The Citadel. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. from Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park in Charleston.