Mercer connects on six homers in SoCon Tournament rout

The Mercer baseball team exploded for 15 hits and six home runs in a 13-1 victory over The Citadel in the opening round of the Southern Conference Championship on Wednesday in Greenville, South Carolina.

Mercer turned to the long ball in the bottom of the third inning to take a 2-0 advantage, behind solo home runs from Jackson Ware and Trey Truitt. The Bears were just getting started, however, as they unloaded in the fourth with nine runs.

Ryan Hagan started the fireworks in the fourth with a two-run shot to left field, before Matt Meeder’s bunt single plated Hunter Bening for a 5-0 advantage. Truitt followed with a three-run shot to left center and Kyle Lewis’ 461-foot two-run bomb pushed the lead to 10-0. Charlie Madden wrapped up the nine-run frame with a RBI single for an 11-0 advantage.

Truitt broke the SoCon Championship single-game home run record with his third long ball in the fifth, blasting a shot over the green monster in left for a 13-0 lead. The Citadel broke up Mercer’s shutout bid with a run in the sixth to round out the scoring.

Ryan Askew was effective on the mound for Mercer, tossing five scoreless frames of three-hit ball while striking out four batters. A trio of relievers — Josh Knies, Austin Cox and Taylor Lobus — wrapped up the final two innings.

Mercer takes on Furman at 4 p.m. on Thursday in a winners’ bracket game. The Paladins beat East Tennessee State 3-0 on Wednesday.

This story was originally published May 25, 2016 at 7:41 PM with the headline "Mercer connects on six homers in SoCon Tournament rout."