Long Ball Leads To Historic Win For The Bears

Tuesday, March 31

Macon, Ga.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

22-7

Kennesaw State

14-11

Kennesaw St.

Mercer

Long Ball Leads To Historic Win For The Bears

3/31/2026 11:36:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

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

MACON – The Mercer Bears (22-7, 2-1 SoCon) snapped a three-game losing streak with a 14-4 win over Kennesaw State at OrthoGeorgia Park on Tuesday night. The Bears mashed four home runs and head coach Craig Gibson earned his 750th career win since taking over as Mercer's head coach in 2004.

Decisive Plays:

Eli Stephens started his monster day from the plate in the first inning with a two-run double off the left field wall. Kennesaw State took the lead in the third inning with a three spot. Michael Graziano tied the game in the home half of the frame with a two-run home run (4). Stephens blasted a go-ahead grand slam (1) in the bottom of the fourth. Drew Johnson came in to pinch-hit for Devyn McEachron and mashed his first homer of the season, a two-run blast to right, two batters later. Chris Katz capped off the inning with a three-run home run of his own (8). The score remained 13-4 until the sixth inning when Brant Baughcum lasered an RBI single up the middle to set up for the eventual run-rule win in seven innings.

Key Contributors:

Eli Stephens: 3-for-4, 6 RBI, HR, 2B
Michael Graziano: 4-for-4, 2 RBI, HR, 3 R

Next Game:

The Bears hit the road again for a three-game conference series against UNC Greensboro (12-17, 1-5 SoCon) this upcoming weekend. First pitch for Thursday, April 2 is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Pitching matchups are TBD. Live stats are available here. You can watch live with ESPN+.

Bears Defend Home Turf From In-State Rival

Monday, March 30

Bears Drop Pitcher’s Duel In Corvallis

Sunday, March 29

Bears Fall On Saturday Afternoon To Ranked Oregon State

Saturday, March 28

Late Rally Leads To Friday Night Heartbreaker For Bears

Saturday, March 28

Next Event

UNC Greensboro

Apr 2 (Thu)

6 p.m.

Watch Live stats

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Full Schedule

Team Stats

Pitching:

W: Garnett, Andrew (3-0)

L: Gold, Ryan (0-1)

Kennesaw St.

Batting:

2B: Chirello, Jackson 1

RBI: McGee, James 1 ; Williams, Cooper 1 ; Chirello, Jackson 1

Base Running:

RUNS: Chirello, Jackson 1 ; Wilson, Avery 1 ; Gibbs, Josh 1 ; Lyons, Trenton 1

HBP: Lyons, Trenton 1

Mercer

Batting:

2B: Stephens, Eli 1

HR: Johnson, Drew 1 ; Stephens, Eli 1 ; Graziano, Michael 1 ; Katz, Chris 1

RBI: Baughcum, Brant 1 ; Johnson, Drew 2 ; Stephens, Eli 6 ; Graziano, Michael 2 ; Katz, Chris 3

Base Running:

RUNS: LaPointe, Dylan 1 ; Baughcum, Brant 1 ; McEachron, Devyn 1 ; Johnson, Drew 1 ; Stephens, Eli 1 ; Shepherd, Logan 2 ; Graziano, Michael 3 ; Huffman, Kaleb 1 ; Katz, Chris 3