Ninth Inning Rally Comes Up Short In Loss To Charleston Southern

Saturday, April 12

Macon, Ga.

2 p.m.

Mercer University

22-15

Charleston Southern

19-13

Charleston Southern

Mercer

Ninth Inning Rally Comes Up Short In Loss To Charleston Southern

4/12/2025 6:29:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

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

MACON – The Mercer baseball team put up a ninth inning rally but came up just short, falling to Charleston Southern by a score of 9-6 on Saturday at OrthoGeorgia Park.

Brant Baughcum (3-for-4), Drew Johnson (2-for-5) and Eli Stephens (2-for-3) all had multi-hit efforts, while Zack Thompson (1-for-3) homered to lead the Bears offensively. Parks Ledwell (1-2) got the win for the Bucs, while Jeb Johnson (3-2) took the loss for Mercer.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Bears jumped out to an early lead for the second game in a row with a run in the second inning, as Johnson singled and stole second before Stephens drove him in with an opposite field single.

Johnson mowed down the Bucs' lineup early, allowing just two baserunners through his first three innings of work. In the bottom of the third, Ty Dalley drew a leadoff walk before coming around to score on a single from Baughcum, extending the lead to two.

After zeroes from both sides in the fourth, Charleston Southern finally got to Johnson in the top of the fifth with a two-run home run to even the score. However, Mercer answered right back in the home half of the inning, as Dalley drew another leadoff walk to set the table for Parker Lester. Lester stepped in and drove a double over the center fielder's head, giving the Bears the lead at 3-2.

Unfortunately for Mercer, the lead was short-lived, as the Bucs put up a four-spot in the top of the sixth to take a 6-3 advantage.

In the bottom of the inning, Thompson cut into the lead by launching a leadoff home run, his second big fly of the week. Collin Ewaldsen entered on the mound in the top of the seventh and continued to throw the ball well, working a 1-2-3 inning to keep the score at 6-4.

The Bucs added insurance runs in the eighth and ninth, scoring once in the eighth and twice in the ninth to extend their lead to five.

Despite the deficit, the Bears refused to go down without a fight in the ninth. Bradley Frye led off the inning with a double before Lester drew a walk to put two on with no out. Baughcum stepped in the box next and fouled off six consecutive full count pitches to stay alive. On the 11^th pitch of the at-bat, Baughcum put a ball off the wall in center field, but passed the Mercer runner at first base and was called out. In the next at-bat, Thompson worked a walk to load the bases with one out for Michael Graziano. Graziano nearly delivered some major heroics, but his fly ball landed just short of the wall in left field for a sac fly. The 9-6 score proved to be the final, as Charleston Southern induced an infield pop-up to secure the win.

UP NEXT

Mercer and Charleston Southern wrap up the series tomorrow in Charleston for a 3 p.m. first pitch.