DELAND, Fla. – A nine-run third inning put Mercer on cruise control as the second-seed eased past fifth-seed ETSU 11-3 at Melching Field in the second game of the Atlantic Sun Championship presented by Progress Energy.
The Bears (33-24) scored all nine of their runs in the decisive third inning with two outs. Eleven batters paraded to the plate for Mercer with Mike Jarvis and John Dortch each driving in a pair of runs. Mercer finished just one run shy of matching the A-Sun Championship record for runs in an inning which the Bears set versus UALR in 1980.
ETSU (29-26) would add single runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings, but could not manage to get a significant rally started. Mercer won their fourth straight game against ETSU this season, adding today’s win to a three-game series sweep back on April 14-15 in Johnson City, Tenn.
Josh Thompson went 3-for-3 to pace Mercer’s 14-hit attack and a trio of Bears drove in two runs each. Center fielder Stephen Douglas added two hits for ETSU. First team All-Atlantic Sun selection Brantley New (9-3) tossed 7.0 innings for the Bears to earn the victory while Caleb Glafenhein (1-4) took the loss after making his first start of the season after 26 relief appearances.
Mercer will face the winner of Stetson-FAU while ETSU will square off with Campbell in the tournament’s first elimination game at 11:00 am tomorrow.
The championship’s first day concludes when host and third-seed Stetson faces fourth-seed Florida Atlantic. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
