Saturday, February 03, 2007

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Mercer baseball squad defeated No. 2 Miami, 8-5, on Saturday night. The Bears were out-hit 10-5, but took advantage of their opportunities in starting the season with their second straight win.

For the second straight night, the Hurricanes (0-2) plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Senior left-hander Blake Quarles retired the first two batters before Yonder Alonso and Mark Sobolewski delivered back-to-back singles. Following a walk to right fielder Dennis Raben, Gus Menendez recorded a two-run single scoring Alonso and Sobolewski.

Mercer tied the score, 2-2, on Billy Shaughnessy’s two-run blast in the fourth inning. Shaughnessy belted senior right-hander Danny Gil’s 0-2 offering just inside the foul pole down the left-field line.

Miami took back the lead in the bottom half of the fourth when Jason Lowey came in relief of Quarles. With two outs and the bases loaded, Lowey hit Sobolewski with a pitch, giving the Hurricanes a 3-2 advantage.

The Bears battled back again in the fifth as Matt Crawford led off with a walk and on a nicely executed hit-and-run, Crawford advanced to third on a Tyler McCarty single down the right-field line. With Tyler Brown batting, Gil threw a wild pitch allowing Crawford to score and even up the score at three runs apiece.

Teddy Kaufman relieved Gil with one out in the inning and hit Eric Renfroe with a pitch. The ‘Canes then turned to Jason Santana out of the bullpen with the bases loaded and Mike Armstrong at the plate. Armstrong produced an RBI fielder’s choice giving Mercer the lead at 4-3.

In the back-and-forth affair, Miami knotted up the score again on a sacrifice fly by Nick Freitas that scored Menendez in the bottom of the fifth. With the score tied a four, the Hurricanes struck again as freshman Ryan Jackson notched his first collegiate hit, scoring Blake Tekotte, and putting Miami back ahead, 5-4.

Mercer took advantage on a pair of Miami miscues in the seventh. McCarty scored when Shaughnessy was hit by a pitch, and Steven Karwatt followed with a high fly ball in front of home plate. Catcher Jason Haggerty and relief pitcher Carlos Gutierrez had some communication problems on the play, and Gutierrez dropped the ball allowing Brown to score the go-ahead run and give the Bears a 6-5 lead.

Armstrong added some insurance with a two-run home run in the ninth.

Andy Campbell registered the win for Mercer throwing two innings of no-hit, shutout relief. Raben was charged with the loss allowing one unearned run in 0.2 innings of work. Cory Gearrin came in and notched his second save in as many days striking out four in the final 1.2 innings.

Quarles went three innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits and Hurricanes’ starter Danny Gil no-hit the Bears through 3.2 innings, but only retired two more batters before his departure. He allowed four earned runs on three hits while striking out four batters.

Armstrong finished the game 1-for-3 with three RBIs, two runs scored and a home run, and Shaughnessy chipped in three RBIs, one run scored and one home run.

Before yesterday’s victory, Mercer’s last win over Miami came in 1975 and they were 1-27 all-time versus the Hurricanes. The Bears two wins ensures a series’ victory and they will look for a sweep in game three Sunday afternoon at Mark Light Field. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.

The last time Miami lost its opening series of the season was in 1967 against Florida State.

Game Story from February 2 Below

The Mercer baseball squad opened its 2007 campaign with a bang, scoring two runs in the ninth inning to grab a 6-5 decision over No. 2 Miami on Friday night. Preseason A-Sun Player of the Year Josh Thompson led the way going 4-for-4 with three RBIs, two runs scored, one double and a home run.

The ‘Canes wasted no time getting on the board, plating a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Mercer right-handed pitcher Brantley New retired the leadoff batter before Roger Tomas and Yonder Alonso followed with back-to-back singles.

With runners at first and third, New struck out right fielder Dennis Raben, but Alonso broke from first and on catcher Josh Thompson’s throw to second, Tomas swiped home. Designated hitter Mark Sobolewski then roped an RBI single giving Miami an early 2-0 advantage.

Miami struck again when Alonso added his second hit of the game, a leadoff home run to straight-away center in the third inning.

The Bears played small ball to score their first run of the season in the fourth. Thompson led off with a double to right-center field and advanced to third on a groundout by Eric Renfroe. Mike Armstrong plated Thompson with an infield single, pulling Mercer within two at 3-1.

The ‘Canes extended their lead to 5-1 in the fifth as catcher Richard O’Brien laced a two-run single to right, scoring Raben and Gus Menendez.

Mercer cut the deficit to three in the sixth when Thompson belted his first home run of the season over the left-field fence.

Tyler Brown’s RBI infield single tacked on another run for the Bears in the seventh and Thompson followed with his third hit of the game, an RBI single to left, pulling Mercer within one at 5-4.

Matt Crawford led off the ninth with a bunt single and Tyler McCarty hit an opposite-field single giving the Bears life in the final frame. Brown advanced Crawford to third with a fielder’s choice and Thompson delivered his fourth hit of the night, an RBI single evening up the score, 5-5.

Following a Renfroe stolen base, Mike Armstrong came through with a game-winning RBI single scoring pinch runner Richard Bentley, giving Mercer its first lead of the game, 6-5.

Boone Webster picked up the win throwing three innings of shutout ball while allowing three hits and two strikeouts. Cory Gearrin earned the save in his first appearance as a Bear. Enrique Garcia recorded the loss for Miami giving up two earned runs and four hits in 1.1 innings of work.

Each starter went five innings as New gave up five earned runs on seven hits, and Manny Miguelez allowed one earned run and five hits. Armstrong finished the game 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs and Jason Lowey went 2-for-4 with one run scored.

The Bears and Hurricanes will be back in action Saturday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. for game two of the three-game series.

Courtesy of Mercer Athletics