May 24, 2018

Box Score |   

Greenville, S.C. - Fifth-seeded Mercer jumped out to a six-run lead just three innings into Thursday afternoon's winner's bracket game before tacking on six more in the sixth and three in the seventh to defeat No. 9 Western Carolina 15-0 in seven innings at the 2018 Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases at Fluor Field.

Mercer (37-20) earns a day off and will return to the field on Saturday at Noon, facing No. 2 Samford. No. 9 seed Western Carolina (9-46) suffered its first loss of the tournament and moves to the loser's bracket, facing No. 6 seed ETSU in an elimination game on Friday at an updated time of 11:00 am.

Four different Bears drove in two as eight of the nine batters reached base as Mercer becomes the first program to defeat two opponents via the run rule in the same SoCon Baseball Championship. All-SoCon second-teamer Trey Truitt led the way, going 3-for-5 with a home run, two RBIs and three runs scored in the win.

The Catamounts combined for just four hits as a team while committing three errors in the contest. Freshman infielder Will Prater had a pair of singles while senior catcher Spencer Holcomb and Luke Robinson both recorded singles with Holcomb reaching a second time on a walk, extending his reached base safely streak to 28-consecutive games.

Mercer starter Christian Vann picked up his fifth win of the season (5-3), striking out four batters and walking three over 5 1/3 innings. All-SoCon first-team member Robert Broom and Nick Spear combined to toss the final 1 2/3 innings without allowing a hit and each recorded a strikeout.

Western Carolina southpaw Corey Sikes (0-5) was tagged with the loss after allowing 10 runs -- only seven of which were earned -- on 10 hits and one walk in 5 1/3 innings. Freshman LHP Caleb Bisohp pitched the final 1 2/3 innings, surrendering five runs -- three earned -- on three hits with a pair of walks and two HBPs.

Mercer wasted no time getting on the board when Jackson Ware singled up the middle to bring in Brandon Michie and Truitt to give the Bears a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

After adding a run in the second, the Bears scored three in the third inning to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Michie began the scoring onslaught in the sixth inning, singling home two base runners to make the score 8-0. Michie would come around to score after JT Thomas was hit by a pitch.

Mercer scored three more runs in the sixth before Truitt launched the sixth SoCon tournament home run of his career in the seventh inning to extend the lead to 14-0. Thomas lifted a sacrifice fly in his next at bat to cap the scoring for the Bears.

Western Carolina's best scoring threat in the game came in the third inning as the Catamounts loaded the bases with just one out. Freshman Bryson Parks and Holcomb both drew walks to bookend Prater who pushed a single through the right side. However, Luke Robinson's ground ball to the left side clipped the foot of Prater putting him out and sending Parks back to third base after he had touched the home plate. A two-out ground out to third base ended the threat -- and WCU would not manage more than one base runner on at a time the remainder of the shortened game.

Western Carolina and ETSU meet on Friday afternoon at 3:30 pm in a game that will be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network with live streaming audio available through CatamountSports.com. The game will also be video streamed on the SoCon Digital Network.

The Bucs swept WCU in Cullowhee in late April with games decided by seven, two, and three runs, respectively. The Catamounts are 5-3 all-time against ETSU in the conference championship event, meeting last year as the Bucs rallied in the top of the ninth inning to upset the second-seeded Catamounts, 8-6, in the opening round. Prior to last year's meeting, WCU and ETSU last met in the tournament setting in 1999.

NOTE: Fans can keep track of any additional weather-related schedule changes through WCU Athletics' social media channels including Twitter using the handle, @Catamounts.