Mercer finishes sweep of Samford

Mercer won its seventh straight and swept its second straight Southern Conference opponent Sunday when it beat Samford 7-1 at OrthoGeorgia Park.

The win pulled Mercer (28-6, 8-1 conference) even with Texas Tech for the most victories in NCAA Division I baseball this season. Samford fell to 19-13, 2-4.

The Bears got on the board early after a Samford error turned into two bases and a run for Ryan Hagan. A Danny Edgeworth sacrifice fly scored Conrad Cornell from third base and gave Mercer a 2-0 lead.

Mercer added two more runs in the second after Hagan blasted a two-run home run to left field on a 3-2 count to put Mercer at 4-0.

Hunter Bening added to an already impressive weekend with an RBI single to center field that scored Edgeworth in the third inning.

Samford’s Taylor Garris countered with a solo home run to left field in the fifth to make the score 5-1.

Edgeworth finished off scoring when he dropped a double into left center that scored JT Thomas and Conrad Cornell.

Three who mattered

Kevin Coulter: Mercer’s starting pitcher went 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run, three hits and a walk. He struck out four of the 26 batters he faced to improve to 3-2.

Hagan: The shortstop had a good outing on both ends, batting 2-for-3 with a steal and two RBI on a home run in the second inning. Hagan was also involved in nine plays defensively with a career-high eight assists.

Garris: The lone bright spot for the Bulldogs, Garris went 2-for-3 and scored the only run for Samford with a home run in the fifth inning. He also singled in the eighth.

Observations

No-bat runs: For the second game in a row, Mercer led the game off with a score without a hit, as Fryman’s error led to a Mercer score and a sacrifice fly from Edgeworth scored Cornell from third base. Saturday’s contest saw Mercer jump out to a 4-0 lead after three walks and two-hit-by-pitches as only Charlie Madden’s single in the first inning gave Mercer a run via a hit.

Pitching by committee: Samford used nine pitchers Sunday, four of which allowed at least one run. In contrast, Coulter pitched nearly eight innings by himself.

They said it

Coulter on Mercer’s performance: “The defense played unreal, and this lineup, as a pitcher, when they give you any run support, they give you run support everyday. It makes our job so much easier. We get to calm down a little bit and go about our job, but this lineup is special. Night in and night out, they’re very special.”

Mercer head coach Craig Gibson on the Bears’ record: “We just try to play the game. I sort of can’t believe we’re not ranked, but that’s just sort of been my history here that we’re not respected a lot. But it’s OK. The games at the end, that’s what matters. I don’t think our guys care a lot about it. But good things happen, I think our program speaks for itself. ... Our program has been good for a long time, but we’re sort of not on that BCS level so that hurts us a little, but we’ve competed well on the higher levels, for sure.”

What’s next?

Mercer heads to Decatur on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. contest at Georgia State. The Bears return to Southern Conference play Thursday with a three-game set at VMI.

This story was originally published April 9, 2017 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Mercer finishes sweep of Samford."