Mercer Defeats The Citadel, Falls To Samford To End Season

Saturday, May 24

Greenville, S.C.

3:30 p.m.

Mercer University

35-24

The Citadel

31-26

Mercer

The Citadel

Mercer Defeats The Citadel, Falls To Samford To End Season

5/25/2025 1:02:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

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

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Needing to win twice to advance to Championship Sunday at the SoCon Tournament, fourth-seeded Mercer defeated The Citadel in a 4-2 thriller on Saturday afternoon before dropping the nightcap to Samford by a score of 5-1. Mercer's season ends with a 35-25 record. The 35 wins are the Bears' most in a season since 2022.

Mercer pitching carried the day in game one, with Jackson Gaspard, Terry Busse and Collin Ewaldsen limiting the Bulldogs to two runs, striking out ten. Busse (4-2) was exceptional, getting the win with 4.1 shutout innings of the bullpen. Ewaldsen struck out two and stranded two in the bottom of the ninth to lock up his fourth save of the season. Offensively, Ty Dalley (1-for-4) homered, while Bradley Frye (3-for-4), Titan Kamaka (2-for-5) and Michael Graziano (2-for-3) all had multiple hits. Frye recorded his 200^th career hit with his second hit against The Citadel.

In game two, Samford took advantage of three Mercer errors in the bottom of the first to take a lead that they would not relinquish. Brant Baughcum (1-for-3) drove in Mercer's lone run with a triple, while Michael Graziano (3-for-3) had a career-high three hits and Parker Lester (2-for-4) had two hits of his own to lead the Bears at the plate. On the mound, Jess Ackerman gave the Bears a strong start, striking out eight over five innings, allowing one earned run.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Game 1

The afternoon's elimination game between the Bears and The Citadel began with missed opportunities both offenses, as Mercer stranded two in the top of the first before Gaspard stranded a runner at third in the home half.

Mercer struck first in the top of the third, with Graziano leading things off with a single to set the table for Dalley. Mercer's career home run king added another to his tally, launching a 111 mph rocket over the wall in right center to give Mercer a 2-0 lead. The Bears were not done, however, as a Baughcum single put another man on with nobody out. Frye took advantage, putting a ball of the monster in left field for a double. Baughcum was waved all the way around the bases from first, sliding into home on a bang-bang play and was called safe after review.

After Gaspard struck out two in a 1-2-3 third inning, The Citadel was able to get to the right-hander in the fourth, using three consecutive hits and a sac fly to plate two. With two outs in the inning, Busse took over on the mound and shut down the inning with a strikeout.

Busse was outstanding from there, allowing just two hits over the next three innings to keep it a 3-2 game going into the bottom of the eighth. The Citadel finally put up a rally against Busse in the eighth by loading the bases with two outs. However, Busse buckled down and fielded a comebacker that deflected off of his chest to end the threat.

Mercer was able to scratch across a huge insurance run in the top of the ninth, as Frye started the inning with a double down the line before a single up the middle from Kamaka gave Mercer a 4-2 lead.

Ewaldsen came on for the bottom of the ninth inning looking to lock down the save and struck out the first batter he faced. However, The Citadel mounted a rally, using back-to-back singles to bring the winning run to the plate. Needing to come through to help his team stave off elimination, the All-Freshman Team selection delivered, picking up a huge strikeout before inducing a groundout to seal the 4-2 win.

Game 2

After staying alive with a win in game one, Mercer turned around to take on second-seeded Samford in the nightcap with a chance to advance to Championship Sunday.

The Bulldogs took an early lead, taking advantage of three Mercer errors to score two runs in the bottom of the first.

Bears' starter Jess Ackerman settled into a groove following the first inning, striking out six over the next three innings to keep the score at 2-0.

Mercer got on the board in the fifth, with Graziano delivering a one out single before Baughcum put a ball off the wall in left center for an RBI triple.

However, the run was all the Mercer offense would be able to score in the game, while Samford scored once in the fifth and twice in the sixth to take a 5-1 win.