Mercer edges UNC Greensboro

Alex Hanson drove in pinch-runner Conrad Cornell in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Mercer a hard earned 6-5 Southern Conference win over UNC Greensboro.

Hanson had three hits and scored twice as Mercer broke a three-game losing streak.

Mercer (36-10, 15-2 Southern Conference) evened up the weekend series with UNC Greensboro (25-16, 9-5), and the two teams will meet again at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

“I think it was really important (to win Saturday) because we were scuffling a bit,” Mercer head coach Craig Gibson said. “It’s not that we weren’t playing well, but I think we were a little tired after being on the road for eight games and Greensboro is playing really well.

“We got a great start from Austin Cox, who has turned into one of the best Saturday guys in our conference right now, and we were able to get them late. It gives us a chance to get the series with Kevin Coulter on the mound, and Sundays come down to fight and who wants it. It’s a big game for us for sure.”

Mercer jumped out to a 4-1 lead through five innings, scoring once in the first when Hanson singled and scored on a JT Thomas double and adding three more runs in the third inning on run-scoring doubles by Charlie Madden and Jackson Ware. But UNCG got to Cox in the sixth, scoring three times to tie the game at four.

Danny Edgeworth homered in the eighth to give Mercer a 5-4 lead, but UNCG tied the game in the ninth off reliever Robert Broom. Mercer won it in the ninth when Alex Crotty singled with one out and pinch-runner Cornell advanced to second on a Ryan Hagan single. The set up Hanson’s game winner.

“I know he had thrown a lot of change-ups, so I was guessing a little bit and he got the pitch up and I was able to make good contact,” said Hanson, who delivered his first walk-off hit. “We knew this was a big game for us, and now we are just ready to try and win the series on Sunday.”

Florida 6, Georgia 3

Eighth-ranked Florida rallied to top Georgia at Foley Field in Athens.

Florida scored five runs in the seventh, connecting on four hits, two sacrifice flies, a hit by pitch and a walk, to overcome a 3-1 deficit.

Brady Singer (5-3) won it for Florida with eight innings of work, while Chase Adkins (5-5) took the loss. Michael Byrne picked up his 10th save.

The series concludes Sunday.

Georgia Tech at Illinois-Chicago

Saturday’s non-conference game in Chicago was rained out. Georgia Tech returns to action next Saturday against Pittsburgh.

This story was originally published April 29, 2017 at 7:52 PM with the headline "Mercer edges UNC Greensboro."