Due to harsh weather conditions last week, the Bears’ game at Charleston Southern University against the Buccaneers, was postponed to a later date. This delay, however, didn’t prevent the Bears from playing against the Citadel Bulldogs at OrthoGeorgia Park last weekend.
During the first game on Friday, the Bears jumped out to an early lead in the second inning as William Mapes hit a three-run homer bringing the Bears to a leading 3-0.
The Bulldogs would score two runs between the third and fourth innings, but they wouldn't score again. The Bears scored again on a throwing error at the bottom of the fourth inning to lead 4-2. The fourth inning concluded with Colby Thomas scoring his 13th home run of the season, bringing Austin and Mapes home and bringing the Bears up 7-2.
The first game ended with a final score of 8-2 as Bill Knight hit a game-sealing homer in the seventh inning.
The second game against The Citadel also looked promising for the Bears, as they took the lead early in the second inning 1-0. The fourth inning, however, would see the Bulldogs’ Cole Simpson make a solo home run tying the score to 1-1. This tie would be short-lived as Brown and Austin would score in the bottom of the fourth inning bringing the Bears up 3-1.
During the second game, Mercer’s Ryan Lobus would take the win after fanning seven batters in five innings. With Lobus along with Jaxon O’Neal and Jackson Kelley, the Bears struck out 16 batters in the victory.
The game closed with Thomas hitting another homer, bringing the final score up to 4-1 for the Bears.
The third game rounded out the complete sweep against The Citadel with Thomas, Knight and Collin Price scoring in the first inning to give Mercer an early lead. William Mapes hit a solo homer in the fourth inning bringing the Bears up 4-0.
The Bulldogs, however, began a comeback as they scored in the top of the sixth inning, scoring with a home run that saw Wesley Lane, Ryan McCarthy and Noah Mitchell run home tying the score 4-4 between the teams.
By the bottom of the inning, however, the Bears managed to widen the gap as Knight hit a grand slam to score Thomas, Treyson Hughes and Jozsef Rohrbacher. The grand slam was one of Knight's three extra base hits in the game. Price and DiSpigna continued the streak in the sixth inning sliding into home plate and bringing the Bears 10-4 lead.
The series of games would come to a close with the Bulldogs hitting one more homer in the seventh inning, but Brown would score one more for the last run of the game. This final run cemented the Bears’ win in the final game with a score of 11-5.
Mercer would extend the winning streak against Florida A&M University on the road, winning a close matchup by a score of 4-3. The Bears took an early lead after scoring twice in the first, but the Rattlers tied it up in the third at 2-2. The fourth inning proved the pivotal point for Mercer, as they scored thanks to a David Burke solo shot and never relinquished the lead.
FAMU would score again to make it 4-3, but that's where the score would stay for the rest of the game. Star pitcher Jackson Kelley came in and shut the door to secure Mercer's ninth consecutive win.
The Bears' next matchups will be against conference opponent UNC Greensboro Thursday, Friday and Saturday followed by a Tuesday game against powerhouse Georgia Tech.
