Mercer baseball defeats Georgia, 12-8, to sweep season

ATHENS, Ga. (MERCER ATHLETICS) – The Mercer University baseball team defeated Georgia 12-8 on Tuesday night at Foley Field, sweeping the season series and recording its third-straight victory over the Bulldogs.

Mercer (16-11) pushed its winning streak to five games, after reaching double-figures in the runs column for the fourth time during that stretch. The Bears, who are hitting .352 during the winning streak, tallied 12 hits in the contest, while having five players record multiple-hit performances.

Ryan Askew had a strong outing to help the Bears get off to a fast start, giving up four runs, one earned, in 5.1 innings for his third victory of the season.

Mercer jumped out to an early lead against the Bulldogs for the second time this season, as the team’s first five batters reached base to start a first-inning rally. Matt Meeder opened the game with a double to left field, before scoring the game’s first run on a passed ball.

Kyle Lewis doubled off the wall in right center to plate Nate Moorhouse and would go on to score one batter later on Danny Edgeworth’s single through the left side. Jackson Ware added to Mercer’s tally with a RBI single to left field for a 4-0 advantage.

The Bears pushed their lead to 7-0 with a trio of runs in the second, as Lewis plated his second run of the game before Charlie Madden drove in two runs with a single to left field.

Georgia took advantage of a passed ball and a balk to score its first run of the game, trimming the deficit to six, 7-1, after two innings of play.

However, Mercer struck again in the fourth, as Lewis hit his nation-leading 10th home run of the season to push the lead back to seven, 8-1. The Bears added two runs in the sixth on RBIs from Moorhouse and Edgeworth.

Georgia took advantage of an error to push three runs across in the bottom of the sixth, pulling within six, 10-4, on Daniel Nichols’ sacrifice fly. The Bears added their 11th run of the game in the seventh though, thanks to a suicide squeeze that allowed Devin Bonin to score for a seven-run lead.

The Bulldogs continued their surge in the seventh and eighth, scoring four runs in the two frames to trim their deficit to three, 11-8. Mercer would answer in the ninth though, as Bonin hit a solo shot for a 12-8 advantage. Eric Nyquist sat Georgia down in order in the bottom of the ninth to close out the win.

Mercer returns to Southern Conference play this weekend, as it travels to Greenville, S.C. to take on Furman for a three-game series. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on March 27.