Bears Blank Alabama State For Midweek Win

Wednesday, March 5

Montgomery, Ala.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

10-3

Alabama State

5-9

Mercer

Alabama State

3/5/2025 10:45:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

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

MONTGOMERY, Ala.  – The Mercer baseball team flexed their muscles on the mound by tossing their first shutout since April 24^th of last season, taking down Alabama State by a score of 1-0 on Wednesday night.

Cade Cosper (1-0) had a career night on the hill, tossing a career-high 5 – 1/3 innings of shutout baseball with only two hits to earn his first collegiate win. Jeb Johnson, Bryce Hawkins and Collin Ewaldsen backed Cosper with strong efforts before Terry Busse slammed the door in the ninth for his third save of the season. As a staff, the Bears combined for eight strikeouts and did not allow a walk while surrendering only two hits. Just one Hornet reached third base on the night.

The game began with an early threat from the Bears, as Mercer put runners on second and third with two outs in the top of the first. However, the Bears were unable to capitalize. In the bottom of the second, the Hornets posed a threat of their own by putting runners on second and third, but Cosper was to induce a couple of pop-ups to get out of the inning.

Both offenses went quiet over the next stretch of the game, with only three men reaching base in innings three through five. In the top of the sixth, the Bears were finally able to break the scoreless tie when Brant Baughcum ripped a double down the third base line to score Parker Lester from first base.

Cosper went back out to the mound for the bottom of the sixth and allowed a leadoff single, but was able to pick up his third strikeout of the game in the next at-bat to end his night. Johnson took over and struck out the first hitter he saw before Zack Thompson gunned down a would-be base stealer at second base for the third out of the inning.

In the seventh inning, Michael Graziano laced a two-out double to put a man in scoring position for the Bears, but the Hornets were able to work out of the inning to keep the score at 1-0. Hawkins took the ball for Mercer in the bottom half of the inning, striking out the leadoff man before getting a pair of groundouts for a 1-2-3 inning.

The Bears looked as though they might add an insurance run in the top of the eighth when Drew Johnson ripped a fly ball to right field with a runner on second, but the Alabama State right fielder was able to track it down to keep the Bears at bay. In the home half, Ewaldsen entered and retired the side in order to run the Mercer pitchers' retired batters streak to seven in a row.

Mercer threatened to add an insurance run once again in the top of the ninth, putting a runner on third with two outs. However, the Hornets escaped once again to leave the Bears clinging to a one-run lead going into the bottom of the ninth.
Looking to get out of Montgomery with a win, the Bears turned to Busse to try and close it out. As he has done to opponents all season, Busse overpowered the Hornets with two strikeouts before inducing a fly out to secure the 1-0 win.

The Bears will hit return to OrthoGeorgia Park this weekend when they host the Southern Jaguars for a three-game set. The series starts on Friday with first pitch set for 6 p.m. Fans can get their tickets ahead of time by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.