Bears Split Doubleheader, Take Series Over Western Carolina

Saturday, March 29

Macon, Ga.

2 p.m.

Mercer University

18-10, 2-3

Western Carolina

13-14, 2-3

Western Carolina

Mercer

Bears Split Doubleheader, Take Series Over Western Carolina

3/29/2025 8:45:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

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

MACON – Despite dropping game one of Saturday's doubleheader, the Mercer baseball team used a 10-run outburst in the third inning of game two to take the series over Western Carolina.

GAME ONE

The Bears took an early lead in the first game of the day, using a leadoff single from Titan Kamaka, a sac bunt and a single from Bradley Frye to scratch across a run in the bottom of the first. However, the Catamounts answered back in the top of the second with two runs to jump on top.

Both offenses went quiet for the next four and a half innings, with neither side able to get back on the scoreboard until the sixth. Making his first weekend start of the season, Jeb Johnson was sharp for the Bears, striking out eight without a walk before being chased in the top of the sixth.

After the Catamounts added a run in the visitor's half of the sixth, the Bears put together a threat in the bottom of the inning. Drew Johnson and Frye led off the inning with back-to-back hits, putting runners on the corners with nobody out. Following a sac fly to left from Brant Baughcum, the Catamounts were able to escape the jam with a line out and a pop-up to hang onto a 3-2 lead.

Western Carolina got the run right back in their next at-bats, using a leadoff double and a wild pitch to bring the score back to 4-2. Mercer responded in the bottom of the eighth when Johnson led off the inning with a double of his own before coming around to score on a sac fly from Ty Dalley.

Clinging to a one-run lead, Western Carolina put the game away in the top of the ninth with a three-run inning, taking game one by a score of 7-3.

GAME TWO

In game two of the afternoon, Jess Ackerman took the ball with a chance to help the Bears get their first conference series win of the season. Ackerman was up for the challenge, striking out five in the first two innings to get the Bears off to a strong start. Ackerman was helped by Dalley in the bottom of the first, as the left-handed slugger teed off on the first pitch he saw for his fourth home run of the week and 11^th of the season to give the Bears a 1-0 lead.

Looking to extend the lead, the Bears put up a historic inning in the bottom of the third. After a walk and a groundout started the frame, the Mercer offense went on a tear with 11 straight batters reaching base. When the barrage was all said and done, the Bears scored 10 runs on six hits, sending 15 batters to the plate. Ely Brown, Titan Kamaka, Drew Johnson, Parker Lester, Michael Graziano and Cade Norton all picked up RBIs, while Brown and Kamaka each recorded two hits and Graziano scored two runs. The 10 runs were the most scored in an inning by the Bears since posting an 11-run inning against Western Carolina on May 7, 2021.

Now working with a huge lead, Ackerman surrendered a pair of homers in the fourth to make the score 11-3. That was where the score remained for the next three innings, with Ackerman working a scoreless fifth before giving way to Braydon Kersey in the sixth. Ackerman (2-2) took the win, striking out nine while allowing only three hits in five innings of work. Kersey was excellent in relief, working two clean innings with a strikeout.

In the bottom of the seventh, Brown put a bow on his big game, launching a two-run home run over the wall in right center to secure the run rule victory, 13-3. On the game, Brown went 3-for-5 with four RBI and three runs scored.

UP NEXT

The Bears hit the road on Tuesday to take on No. 25 Georgia Tech in Atlanta. First pitch is set for 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on ACC Network.