Bears Win Rubber Match vs Bisons in Series of the Week
Date Posted: 5/9/2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - After falling 4-1 in a game one pitcher's duel, the Mercer baseball squad rebounded to clinch the series with a 14-9 victory in game two of Friday's doubleheader.
In the nightcap, Mercer jumped to an early 3-0 lead in its first at-bat. Matt Crawford led off with a single through the middle. Billy Shaughnessy and John Dortch walked to load the bases, allowing Michael Langley to bring in Crawford with a base hit to right. Joe Winker followed with a two-RBI hit up the middle to give the Bears the 3-0 lead.
Lipscomb answered in the bottom of the frame, scoring two on a double by Blake Bratcher to pull within one, 3-2. The Bisons took the lead in the fourth. Jorge Gutierrez led off with a home run over the left field fence and Justin Sanders sent a sacrifice fly to right to grab two runs. Ryan Wilkins then plated two with a single to left and Lipscomb added one run off three hits in the fourth to take the 7-3 lead.
The Bears grabbed two runs off three hits in the fifth. Langley led off with a triple to right center. Winker knocked him in with a base hit and Nick DiMauro plated Winker with a shot to left center, pulling Mercer to within two, 7-5.
Mercer evened the score in the seventh, notching two runs without recording a hit. Winker took one for the team, Tyler Brown walked and DiMauro reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases. Shaughnessy walked to bring in Winker and Brown took home on a wild pitch to knot the score at 7-7 before the Bisons turned a double play to end the inning.
Lipscomb plated two runs in the bottom of the frame to take the 9-7 lead. Sanders and Shane Simpkins tallied back-to-back RBI hits to reclaim the lead for the Bisons.
The Bears sent 11 batters to the plate in the eighth and tallied five hits, walked once and got hit twice to grab seven runs and take a commanding 14-9 lead they would not surrender.
Lath Guyer (2-0) earned the win from the hill, tossing one and one-third in relief. Kyle Tognazzini (6-1) was tagged with his first loss, throwing one inning in relief.
Langley led the Bears offensively, going four-for-six. Crawford, Stuart and Dortch each added two hits.
