Bears Battle Back For Series-Opening Win Over Western Carolina

Friday, March 28

Macon, Ga.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

18-9, 2-2

Western Carolina

12-14, 1-3

Western Carolina

Mercer

Bears Battle Back For Series-Opening Win Over Western Carolina

3/28/2025 9:41:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

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

MACON – Despite falling behind early, the Mercer baseball team used a four-run fourth and a two-run sixth along with a strong performance from the bullpen to defeat Western Carolina by a score of 6-5 on Friday night.

Ty Dalley (1-for-2) homered for the fourth time in the last three games and Parker Lester (1-for-4) drove in two runs to lead the Bears at the plate. Colton Cosper battled through five innings before giving way to Andrew Garnett (1-0), who tossed 2 – 1/3 scoreless innings to get his first win as a Bear. Terry Busse locked down his sixth save of the season with two strikeouts in the ninth, while Dusty Revis (1-3) took the loss for the Catamounts.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Western Carolina jumped on the Bears early, scoring two runs in the first inning on an error before using a pair of home runs in the third to stretch the lead to 4-0.

Despite being held hitless through the first three innings, the Mercer bats came alive in the fourth inning. Titan Kamaka and Drew Johnson led off the inning with singles to set the stage for Bradley Frye, who deposited a double into right center field to score Kamaka. After a walk loaded the bases, Brant Baughcum wore an HBP to score the second run of the inning. Ely Brown came up next and made a productive out to score Frye and cut the deficit to one. Finally, Lester put a single into center field for the fourth hit and fourth run of the inning, tying the score at four.

The Catamounts answered in their next at-bats with a run to regain the lead. Garnett entered on the mound for the Bears in the sixth and posted a scoreless inning, using two strikeouts and a caught stealing from catcher Zack Thompson to keep the game within one.

Leading off the bottom of the sixth, Dalley wasted no time tying the game, launching the first pitch he saw over the right field fence for his team-leading 10^th home run of the season. The Bears were not done, however. After Baughcum drew a walk to force a pitching change, Baughcum advanced to second on a balk and third on a passed ball to put the go-ahead run 90 feet from home. Following a walk, Lester came up to the plate and came through for the Bears, working the count full before lifting a sac fly to deep center field to plate the eventual winning run.

The one run lead was all the Mercer bullpen needed, as Garnett induced a double play to get out of the seventh inning and Collin Ewaldsen fielded a comebacker with the bases loaded in the eighth to preserve the lead. In the top of the ninth, Busse came on and slammed the door, striking out two strikeouts to pick up the save.

UP NEXT

The Bears take on the Catamounts in game two of the series at OrthoGeorgia Park tomorrow at 2 p.m. The series concludes on Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch. Fans can purchase tickets ahead of time at MercerBears.com/Tickets.