Mercer tops East Tennessee State, reaches 20 wins

The Mercer baseball team reached the 20-win mark Friday with a 5-2 decision over East Tennessee State in the Southern Conference opener for both teams.

The Bears (20-4) got an eighth-inning two-run home run from senior Charlie Madden to break open at tie at 2, and Jackson Ware followed that with a solo shot to extend the Bears’ lead to three. Ryan Hagan and Matt Meeder each had two hits.

Ryan Askew went 7 2/3 strong innings and struck out six while allowing two earned runs and eight hits. Robert Broom came on and pitched 1 1/3 innings to get the win in relief. The Bears are riding a seven-game winning streak.

Mercer has won eight straight games in its series with East Tennessee State.

“Tip you cap to ETSU (Friday); they were in a position to win,” Mercer head coach Craig Gibson said. “We won some big moments late at the plate with Charlie Madden and Jackson Ware to complement a great start by Ryan Askew on the mound. Charlie’s home run was huge for us; it’s really good to see him performing this well during his senior season. Ware has been great all season in that six- or seven-spot for us, as well.”

Georgia Tech 7, Wake Forest 6

The Yellow Jackets scored three runs in the ninth to tie the game and got the go-ahead run in the top of he 11th to improve to 13-7 overall and 3-4 in the ACC.

Coleman Poje had four hits, including two home runs, with two RBI and three runs scored.

Auburn 2, Georgia 1

The Tigers, ranked 16th, won their ninth straight game to drop the Bulldogs to 9-14 overall and 0-4 in the SEC.

Senior left-hander Andrew Gist set a career high with seven strikeouts for the Bulldogs

This story was originally published March 24, 2017 at 10:54 PM with the headline "Mercer tops East Tennessee State, reaches 20 wins."