Bears Fall Late To Charleston Southern

Friday, April 11

Macon, Ga.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

22-14

Charleston Southern

18-13

Charleston Southern

Mercer

4/11/2025 9:12:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

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

MACON – It was a back-and-forth battle at OrthoGeorgia Park on Friday night, with Charleston Southern breaking a 4-4 tie in the ninth inning with a solo home run to take game one of the series.

Titan Kamaka (1-for-4), Brant Baughcum (1-for-4) and Eli Stephens (1-for-3) each homered to power the Bears at the plate. Kyle Lewis (3-0) got the win for the Bucs in relief, while Craig Kalkbrenner (0-2) took the loss for Mercer.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Bears grabbed the lead in the bottom of the first inning, as Kamaka jumped on a hanging breaking ball and deposited it over the left field wall for a solo home run, his sixth of the season.

After a 1-2-3 inning from Colton Cosper in the top of the second, the Bears added to their lead in the bottom of the frame when Baughcum unloaded on a first pitch fastball for a no-doubt home run, making the score 2-0.

The Bucs answered in their next at-bats, using a triple and a single with two outs to scratch across a run. In the top of the fourth, the Bucs evened things up at two apiece with a leadoff home run.

Following 1-2-3 frames from both offenses, Stephens broke the stalemate in the bottom of the fifth with an opposite field home run, his second of the season. However, Charleston Southern responded with two runs in the sixth to take their first lead of the night.

The back-and-forth battle persisted in the bottom of the inning, as a double from Bradley Frye put runners on the second and third with one out. Drew Johnson stepped in next and delivered a productive out, driving in Ty Dalley with an RBI groundout to second, tying things up at four.

That was where the score remained until the ninth, with Craig Kalkbrenner posting zeroes in the seventh and eighth to keep the Bucs at bay. However, Charleston Southern broke through in the top of the ninth, as a go-ahead home run proved to be the game-winner, giving the Bucs the 5-4 win.

UP NEXT

The Bears host Charleston Southern at OrthoGeorgia Park for game two of the series tomorrow at 2 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets ahead of time at Mercerbears.com/tickets.