Mercer baseball (15-7) upset No. 5 Florida State University (18-2), 9-3, in Tallahassee on Tuesday, marking their second-straight season besting the Seminoles and their highest ranked win since beating No. 1 University of Florida in 2018.
The Bears got on to a fast start after a two-run home run by Bradley Frye ‘25, his seventh of the season, drove home Drew Johnson ‘26. Mercer's pitching stifled the Florida State offense with a stellar first inning by Jeb Johnson ‘25, who recorded three consecutive outs with only 10 pitches. The performance came against one of the hottest offenses in the nation: the Seminoles were coming off of a stellar series against Boston College in which they put up 28 runs over the course of three games.
A sacrifice bunt by Ely Brown ‘27 and a single to right field by Cade Norton ‘28 put Mercer into scoring position again in the top of the second inning. Titan Kamaka ‘27, a Florida State transfer, was able to capitalize on the opportunity with an RBI groundout to third, putting Mercer up 3-0.
Johnson was dominant on the defensive side yet again for Mercer, striking out two while allowing one hit in the second inning. Meanwhile, Florida State, which relied on its bullpen throughout the game, struggled against the Mercer offense in the third frame with a walk and a wild pitch, as well as a double from Ty Dalley ‘26 loading up the bases for Parker Lester ‘25. Lester's sacrifice bunt tacked on another run for Mercer, and was followed up by an inning-capping homer by Brant Baughcum ‘26 that extended the Bears' lead to 6-0.
The right-handed pitcher Johnson accumulated a career-high nine strikeouts by the sixth inning, but the Seminoles finally got a bit of offense going off of a three-run homer. Johnson was relieved by Bryce Hawkins ‘26, who finished the inning with no more damage done.
Zach Thomas '26 extended the Mercer lead to 8-3 in the seventh inning off of a double and another wild pitch by the Florida State squad. Mercer brought in lefty Colton Cosper ‘25 to put the nail in the coffin, who struck out two before being replaced in the eighth inning by Terry Busse ‘25. Busse was able to finish off the Seminoles with five strikeouts in the final two frames. Mercer’s offense closed out the game with another run off of yet another wild pitch, ending with a score of 9-3.
The Bears will look to capitalize on the high-profile road win as they take on their first Southern Conference series of the season against The Citadel (11-10) from March 21-23 in Charleston, S.C.
Jacob Hossler '28 is majoring in Biology with a potential English minor. In his free time he enjoys photography, writing, and playing tennis and soccer.
