Mercer’s Strong Start Too Much For Georgia Southern
5/6/2026 10:26:00 PM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. – The Mercer Bears (36-13, 9-6 SoCon) had 13 total at-bats against three different pitchers and scored eight runs in the first inning which provided an insurmountable lead and secured the first season sweep of Georgia Southern (14-35, 6-18 Sun Belt) since 2018 on Wednesday night.
Decisive Plays:
Georgia Southern's starter Thomas Burke struggled with command and the Bears capitalized by loading the bases with no outs in the top of the first. Brant Baughcum cashed in two runs with a single pushed through the right side of the infield. Dylan LaPointe blasted a 422-foot three-run home run (9) to center field a couple of at-bats later. The Eagles went to the bullpen and Mercer loaded the bases immediately with three straight walks. Chris Katz drew the Bears' fourth consecutive walk to plate the sixth run of the opening frame before Eli Stephens capped off the inning with a two-run single. Brady Christman scored Georgia Southern's first run of the night with a solo home run (12) in the bottom of the fourth. Logan Shepherd powered his second double of the night to the right-center gap and brought Michael Graziano home in the top of the fifth to make It a 9-1 ballgame. The Eagles responded in the bottom of the fifth with six runs off five hits and two walks. The score remained 9-7 until Georgia Southern committed a throwing error that allowed Titan Kamaka to score from second base in the top of the eighth. Jess Ackerman entered the contest in the bottom of the seventh and hurled three nearly perfect innings with four strikeouts to earn his first save of the season.
Key Contributors:
Logan Shepherd:Â 2-for-4, 2 2Bs, RBI, 2 R, BB
Dylan LaPointe:Â 2-for-5, 3 RBI, HR, R
Michael Graziano:Â 1-for-3, 2B, 2 R, 2 BB
Jess Ackerman:Â 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 44 NP, SV
Next Game:
The Bears play their final games at OrthoGeorgia Park of the 2026 season this upcoming weekend as conference foe VMI (27-20, 3-12 SoCon). First pitch for Friday, May 8 is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Pitching matchups are TBD. Live stats are available here. All games will be streamed on ESPN+.
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Decisive Plays:
Georgia Southern's starter Thomas Burke struggled with command and the Bears capitalized by loading the bases with no outs in the top of the first. Brant Baughcum cashed in two runs with a single pushed through the right side of the infield. Dylan LaPointe blasted a 422-foot three-run home run (9) to center field a couple of at-bats later. The Eagles went to the bullpen and Mercer loaded the bases immediately with three straight walks. Chris Katz drew the Bears' fourth consecutive walk to plate the sixth run of the opening frame before Eli Stephens capped off the inning with a two-run single. Brady Christman scored Georgia Southern's first run of the night with a solo home run (12) in the bottom of the fourth. Logan Shepherd powered his second double of the night to the right-center gap and brought Michael Graziano home in the top of the fifth to make It a 9-1 ballgame. The Eagles responded in the bottom of the fifth with six runs off five hits and two walks. The score remained 9-7 until Georgia Southern committed a throwing error that allowed Titan Kamaka to score from second base in the top of the eighth. Jess Ackerman entered the contest in the bottom of the seventh and hurled three nearly perfect innings with four strikeouts to earn his first save of the season.
Key Contributors:
Logan Shepherd:Â 2-for-4, 2 2Bs, RBI, 2 R, BB
Dylan LaPointe:Â 2-for-5, 3 RBI, HR, R
Michael Graziano:Â 1-for-3, 2B, 2 R, 2 BB
Jess Ackerman:Â 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 44 NP, SV
Next Game:
The Bears play their final games at OrthoGeorgia Park of the 2026 season this upcoming weekend as conference foe VMI (27-20, 3-12 SoCon). First pitch for Friday, May 8 is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Pitching matchups are TBD. Live stats are available here. All games will be streamed on ESPN+.
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