Mercer baseball rolls past Austin Peay

The Mercer baseball team claimed its third straight weekend series with a 14-4 victory Sunday over Austin Peay at Claude Smith Field.

Mercer's offense picked up where it left off on Saturday, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Kyle Lewis doubled down the left field line to score Ryan Hagan, who reached on a double of his own, for the game's first run. Madden drove Lewis home with a two-run shot off the scoreboard in left field for a 3-0 advantage.

Madden drove in his third run of the game in the bottom of third, as his sacrifice fly scored Hunter Bening from third. Trey Truitt pushed the lead to 5-0 one inning later, smacking a solo shot over the wall in right center.

Austin Peay broke up Kevin Coulter's shutout bid in the top of the fifth, as Clayton Smithson hit a two-run homer to right to cut the deficit to three, 5-2. The teams traded solo shots before the Bears broke out with four runs in the bottom of the sixth to blow the game open, 10-3. The Governors scored another run in the top of the eighth, but Mercer responded with four more runs in the home half to close out the game.

Mercer (9-3) plays at Georgia State at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

This story was originally published March 6, 2016 at 11:14 PM with the headline "Mercer baseball rolls past Austin Peay ."