Mercer Drops Pitcher’s Duel In Series Finale

Sunday, March 22

Macon, Ga.

1 p.m.

Mercer University

20-4

The Citadel

9-13

The Citadel

Mercer

Mercer Drops Pitcher’s Duel In Series Finale

3/22/2026 5:49:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Rylee Bamberger, Rylee.m.bamberger@live.mercer.edu

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears (20-4, 2-1 SoCon) fell just one run short of sweeping their first conference opponent of the year with a 3-2 loss to The Citadel (9-13, 1-2 SoCon) at OrthoGeorgia Park on Sunday afternoon.

Decisive Plays:

Jeb Johnson looked electric through the first two innings and struck out five Bulldogs to begin the conference series finale. The Bulldogs were able to plate two runs courtesy of a sacrifice fly and a sacrifice bunt that broke the deadlock in the third inning. Chris Katz responded with a sacrifice fly of his own in the home half of the frame that cut The Citadel's lead in half. Lane Tobin powered a two-out double to right center that plated a run before Andrew Garnett stepped onto the mound for Mercer and hurled 1.2 shutout innings. Jess Ackerman took the hill in the middle of a jam and escaped without allowing any runs in the top of the sixth. Brant Baughcum drove in the final run of the game with an RBI single in the home half of the frame. Ackerman retired the next nine Bulldogs to keep the Bears within one until the very end.

Notable Players:

Chris Katz: 2-for-4, RBI, 3B, R
Jess Ackerman: 3.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO, 56 NP

Noteworthy:

The Bears' two runs on Sunday afternoon against The Citadel are the least runs scored by Mercer in a single game since February 14 against Troy. The Bears have plated 239 runs this season – the seventh-most in the nation.

Next Game:

After winning their first conference series of the season, the Bears travel to in-state opponent West Georgia (6-18, 3-3 ASUN). First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Pitching matchups are TBD.