Bears Win Wild Game To Sweep UNCG

Sunday, April 27

Macon, Ga.

1 p.m.

Mercer University

29-17, 9-6

UNC Greensboro

18-24, 7-5

UNC Greensboro

Mercer

4/27/2025 4:30:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

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

MACON – Trailing 4-0 going into the fourth inning, Mercer used three home runs to storm back and take down UNCG by a score of 7-4, securing the series sweep on Sunday at OrthoGeorgia Park.

Parker Lester (1-for-3), Ty Dalley (1-for-4) and Bradley Frye (2-for-3) homered to lead the Bears at the plate. Five Mercer relief pitchers combined to shut out the Spartans over the game's final six innings, with Craig Kalkbrenner (1-2) getting the win with 2 – 1/3 shutout frames. Jay Miller (2-4) took the loss for UNCG.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Following 1-2-3 innings from both offenses in the first, UNCG struck first in the bottom of the second, using a pair of home runs to take a 3-0 lead. The Spartans added on in the top of the third with an RBI double, pushing the lead to four.

Craig Kalkbrenner took over on the mound to record the final out in the third and quieted the storm, putting up a zero in the fourth. The Mercer offense responded accordingly in the home half, as a single from Frye and a double from Drew Johnson put runners on second and third with one out. Following a strikeout, Lester came up clutch, driving a three-run home run over the wall in right center to make it a 4-3 ballgame.

Following the home run, Kalkbrenner responded by inducing a fly out to strand a runner at third in the top of the fifth.

With the momentum now in the Mercer dugout, Ty Dalley delivered the biggest swing of the game with a man on and one out in the bottom of the fifth, crushing a 3-0 pitch 106 MPH for a no-doubt home run to right field. The Bears were not done, however, as Frye stepped in next and drilled a first pitch home run to left, giving Mercer a 6-4 lead.

Holding their first lead of the game, Mercer turned to Jackson Gaspard out of the bullpen in the top of the sixth. The Spartans threatened, putting runners on first and second with one out. However, Gaspard buckled down and induced a ground ball to third baseman Brant Baughcum, who stepped on third and threw across the diamond to first to complete a huge double play.

Freshman Braydon Kersey took over on the mound in the seventh for his second appearance of the weekend and came up with a huge pitch of his own, striking out a Spartan to strand runners at second and third.

The bottom of the seventh saw the Bears cash in on a huge insurance run, as Johnson lifted a single to right field for a two-out knock, scoring Baughcum to push the lead to three.

Needing six outs to complete their first SoCon series sweep of the season, the Bears turned to Terry Busse to lock down the win. "Scary Terry" did exactly that, retiring six of seven batters to nail down his seventh save of the year.

With the sweep, the Bears improve to 9-6 in SoCon play and move into second place in the conference standings. The sweep was the Bears' second of the season and first in conference play since sweeping a three-game set from Wofford in 2023.

UP NEXT

Mercer will look to extend their winning streak to five on Wednesday when they travel to Atlanta to take on Georgia State. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.