Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mercer Bears | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
Georgia Bulldogs | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
The Diamond Dogs, who defeated Mercer in Macon in March, welcomed the Bears to Foley Field on Wednesday for a consequential contest. The Georgia baseball team came into the midweek outing sporting a 25-23 record and needing a win to keep from heading into the weekend flirting with .500, but the Classic City Canines came up short, falling to the Baptists by a 4-2 margin.
Mercer struck first, turning a leadoff double into a 1-0 advantage on a run-scoring single in the top of the opening inning. Georgia offered a retort in the bottom of the second stanza when right fielder Kevin Ruiz and first baseman Jonathan Hester got aboard and catcher Carson Schilling brought them both home.
The Bulldogs’ 2-1 edge was short-lived, as the Bears responded in the top of the third canto. Two men were on base when first baseman John Moreland drove the home run to right field that made it 4-2. After that outburst of six runs in three innings, the game settled into a scoreless stretch spanning six stanzas, during which Georgia stranded five baserunners and Mercer left two men on the basepaths.
At 25-24 with seven games remaining, the Diamond Dogs now find themselves with no margin for error. The Red and Black need to take at least two of three from the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington this weekend, beat the Kennesaw St. Owls next Tuesday, and avoid both being swept by the Vanderbilt Commodores and going 0-2 in Hoover.
Go ‘Dawgs!