Mercer baseball takes 8-4 win over Furman
The Mercer Bears won their fourth straight game by beating Furman 8-4 on Saturday afternoon at Claude Smith Field in front of a large crowd.
The Bears trailed 3-1 but scored once in the fourth, four times in the fifth and once more in the sixth and eighth to cruise to the win.
Matt Meeder and Jose Hernandez both had three hits in the game, while Danny Edgeworth and Howard Joe both homered for the Bears. Freshman Nick Spear pitched six innings of one-run relief and struck out eight while walking only one.
Three who mattered
Spear: The freshman pitcher gave Mercer a huge lift on the mound. He relieved Connor Herd with no outs in the third, pitched out of the jam and gave up only one run the rest of the game. He got stronger as the game progressed and retired nine of the final 11 hitters he faced.
Meeder: The junior shortstop had three hits, and his bases-loaded double scored two runs in the fifth gave Mercer a lead it did not relinquish.
Hernandez: The senior catcher had three hits and scored twice.
Observations
Hitting is contagious: Mercer pounded out 13 hits, and it came from all over the batting order. Joe, Hernandez and Jackson Ware, the seven through nine hitters, combined for five hits and four runs scored, while the four through six hitters, Ryan Hagan, Edgeworth, and Hunter Bening, also had five hits between them. Seven different players drove in runs for the Bears.
They said it
Meeder on his fifth inning at-bat: “I was wanting to get a fast ball, and I took the first fast ball that was a ball. I thought I would probably get another fast ball because he was behind in the count, and I got one and put a good swing on it for a double.”
Meeder on being behind 3-1 early in the game: “We really haven’t started many games off fast, and we always take about three innings to get loose, but once we start putting up quality at-bats together and get a few hits we seem to settle down and keep hitting.”
Spear on his performance: “I felt pretty good, but I know I still have to work more to get better. I have been working on a few pitches, and (Saturday’s) game will definitely make me a little more confident in my stuff.”
Spear on how bad he wanted to finish the game in what was his longest outing of the season: “I wasn’t real sure I would even go back out for the ninth inning because they usually don’t let me do that. When I went out there, I didn’t really pay attention to how many innings I had thrown and I just went out and tried to do my job. It meant a lot for me, though, to be able to finish the game.”
Mercer head coach Craig Gibson on Spear’s performance: “Nick was really good, and you can’t say enough about him (Saturday). He was able to throw strikes and get ahead of hitters and he competed well, and we really need him at this time of the year.
Gibson on going for the sweep against Furman: “It’s a big game for us, and a lot of game threes come down to fight. Hopefully we will be ready for them”.
What’s next?
Mercer (25-15, 10-4 Southern Conference) plays Furman (15-24, 4-7) at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
This story was originally published April 23, 2016 at 9:44 PM with the headline "Mercer baseball takes 8-4 win over Furman."