Saturday, May 16
Johnson City, Tenn.
1 p.m.
Mercer University
43-13, 15-6
11
at
6
East Tennessee State
30-22, 10-11
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 14 | 0 |
| ETSU | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 2 |
Mercer Claims Regular Season Title Outright, Ties Program Record With Explosive First Inning
5/16/2026 10:09:00 PM | Baseball
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Mercer Bears (43-13, 15-6 SoCon) concluded their regular season with an exclamation point by plating six runs off six hits in the first inning and dominating ETSU (30-22, 10-11 SoCon) en route to an 11-4 win in Johnson City on Saturday afternoon. Mercer claimed the outright regular season title and will enter the Southern Conference championship tournament as the No. 1 seed.
Decisive Plays:
The Bears sent 12 batters to the plate in a huge opening frame that ended with six runs off six hits. Chris Katz launched his 20th home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field, to open the scoring. Braydon Kersey pushed an RBI single through the left side of the infield and doubled the Bears' lead. Mercer strung together four consecutive base knocks with Dylan LaPointe, Ethan Buffone and Logan Shepherd each driving home a run. Jamie Palmese chopped a single off the infield turf and legged out the throw to drive home the Bucs' first run of the afternoon in the bottom of the first. Luke Matlock made it a 6-3 ballgame with a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth. Buffone responded with a two-run double in the top of the fifth that extended Mercer's lead back to five runs. Katz traded places with Buffone two batters later with an RBI double (17) of his own. Henry Ferguson scored off a balk in the bottom of the fifth. The score remained 9-4 until Katz drove in his fourth RBI of the day with a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh. Brant Baughcum capped off the scoring with a booming home run (11) in the eighth.
Notables:
Chris Katz:Â 2-for-5, 4 RBI, HR, 2B, R
Ethan Buffone:Â 3-for-4, 3 RBI, 2B, R, BB
Brant Baughcum:Â 2-for-3, RBI, HR, 2 R, 2 BB
Braydon Kersey:Â 3-for-5, RBI
Next Game:
The Bears travel to Greenville, South Carolina, for the 2026 SoCon Championship tournament at Fluor Field. As the No. 1 seed, Mercer earned a "double-bye" which means the Bears will not play until Thursday, May 21 at 9:00 a.m. No. 5 Citadel plays No. 8 VMI to begin the tournament on May 20 at 9:00 a.m. The winner advances and plays against No. 4 Wofford later that night at 4:00 p.m. The winner of that game will be Mercer's opponent. Pitching matchups are TBD.
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Decisive Plays:
The Bears sent 12 batters to the plate in a huge opening frame that ended with six runs off six hits. Chris Katz launched his 20th home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field, to open the scoring. Braydon Kersey pushed an RBI single through the left side of the infield and doubled the Bears' lead. Mercer strung together four consecutive base knocks with Dylan LaPointe, Ethan Buffone and Logan Shepherd each driving home a run. Jamie Palmese chopped a single off the infield turf and legged out the throw to drive home the Bucs' first run of the afternoon in the bottom of the first. Luke Matlock made it a 6-3 ballgame with a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth. Buffone responded with a two-run double in the top of the fifth that extended Mercer's lead back to five runs. Katz traded places with Buffone two batters later with an RBI double (17) of his own. Henry Ferguson scored off a balk in the bottom of the fifth. The score remained 9-4 until Katz drove in his fourth RBI of the day with a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh. Brant Baughcum capped off the scoring with a booming home run (11) in the eighth.
Notables:
- Mercer lifted the Southern Conference regular season championship trophy for the fourth time since joining the league in 2014. The Bears claimed outright ownership of the regular season title with Saturday's win.
- The Bears tied their single-season record for the most wins in a single campaign with their 43rd win on Saturday afternoon. Mercer last reached this mark in 2013 and have only won 40+ games in a single season three times.
- Chris Katz joined Braydon Kersey and Eli Stephens in the 20+ home run club with his first-inning blast. This is the first time in 155 years of Mercer baseball that three Bears have left the yard 20 or more times in the same season. Logan Shepherd is currently knocking on the door with 19.
- Sticking with Chris Katz, the senior outfielder now has 71 RBI, 79 hits and 76 runs on the year. The only other Bear to reach 70+ runs, hits and RBI since at least 2016? Kyle Lewis. Katz leads the SoCon in all three categories as well as total bases (158). Pair that with a 1.245 OPS and 48 walks and you have the definition of an elite ballplayer.
Chris Katz:Â 2-for-5, 4 RBI, HR, 2B, R
Ethan Buffone:Â 3-for-4, 3 RBI, 2B, R, BB
Brant Baughcum:Â 2-for-3, RBI, HR, 2 R, 2 BB
Braydon Kersey:Â 3-for-5, RBI
Next Game:
The Bears travel to Greenville, South Carolina, for the 2026 SoCon Championship tournament at Fluor Field. As the No. 1 seed, Mercer earned a "double-bye" which means the Bears will not play until Thursday, May 21 at 9:00 a.m. No. 5 Citadel plays No. 8 VMI to begin the tournament on May 20 at 9:00 a.m. The winner advances and plays against No. 4 Wofford later that night at 4:00 p.m. The winner of that game will be Mercer's opponent. Pitching matchups are TBD.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hughes, Caleb (3-1)
L: Tristan Curless (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Katz, Chris 1 ; Johnson, Drew 1 ; Buffone, Ethan 1
HR: Katz, Chris 1 ; Baughcum, Brant 1
RBI: Shepherd, Logan 1 ; Katz, Chris 4 ; Baughcum, Brant 1 ; Kersey, Braydon 1 ; LaPointe, Dylan 1 ; Buffone, Ethan 3
SF: Katz, Chris 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Shepherd, Logan 1 ; Katz, Chris 1 ; Stephens, Eli 1 ; Baughcum, Brant 2 ; LaPointe, Dylan 1 ; Graziano, Michael 2 ; Johnson, Drew 2 ; Buffone, Ethan 1
Batting:
2B: Nate Conner 1 ; Henry Ferguson 1 ; Axel Melendez 1 ; Luke Matlock 1
HR: Tristan Curless 1 ; Luke Matlock 1
RBI: Tristan Curless 2 ; Jamie Palmese 1 ; Luke Matlock 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Henry Ferguson 2 ; Tristan Curless 1 ; Axel Melendez 1 ; Luke Matlock 2
HBP: Joey Little 2
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
0
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
3
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
4
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
3B
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INF
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C
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