Saturday, May 29, 2010

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – When Mercer last laid claim to an Atlantic Sun Baseball Championship the year was 1983, the conference was known as the Trans America Athletic Conference and Craig Gibson manned first base for the Bears. Twenty seven years later, Mercer returned to the top of conference, ousting Jacksonville by a 7-3 score to win the 2010 Atlantic Sun Baseball Championship at Ken Dugan Field on the campus of Lipscomb University.

The Bears (37-22) jumped out quickly on the Dolphins (27-29). For the fourth time in as many A-Sun Championship games, the Bears dented the plate first, scoring twice in the top of the first inning. Billy Burns started the game by drawing a four-pitch walk. He scored on a double by Michael Langley. Langley pushed the lead to 2-0 as he scored on a single by Thomas Carroll. For the Championship, the team that scored first won nine of the 10 games.

Read the Atlantic Sun Insider Column from Mercer's victory HERE.

Jacksonville struck back for two in its half of first, but the pitching took over, with both sides putting up matching zeros until Mercer took the lead for good in the top of the sixth inning. With one out, Tournament MVP Jacob Tanis crushed a 1-2 offering from Matt Tomshaw over the left-field fence for a 3-2 advantage. ercer pushed its lead to 4-2 when Langley scored on a Nick DiMauro single. Carroll drove home two more runs an inning later, extending the lead to 6-2.

All Tournament pitcher David Teasley pitched 2.1 innings of relief to earn the win. Lath Guyer closed out the contest by inducing a ground out by Jamaal Hawkins to Tanis. Guyer picked up his second save of the season. Tomshaw took the loss, his second in 10 decisions. In winning the MVP, Tanis finished the week hitting .429 with two home runs – both coming on Saturday. He increased his RBI total to 86, the most in the A-Sun since Stetson’s Frank Corr set the league record with 98 in 2000.

The win gave Mercer its fourth Atlantic Sun Baseball Championship. The Bears emerged victorious in three of the first five Championships contested (1979, 1981 and 1983). It represented the Bears’ 17th win in their last 20 ballgames as they recorded their most wins in a season since winning 39 in 1981. They became the eighth team in the 14 years the conference has utilized a six-team, double-elimination tournament to go undefeated and the first to win such an event beating only two teams. They beat ETSU twice sandwiched in between victories against the Dolphins to open and cap the week.

Mercer joins Stetson, UCF, Jacksonville and Georgia Southern as the five programs in conference history to win at least four conference titles. In four wins, the Bears pitching allowed only 12 runs, the fewest by a champion since FAU allowed only 11 runs in four contests in 2004.

Mercer will learn its NCAA Regional destination at 12:30 p.m. on Monday during the NCAA Selection Show. ESPN will broadcast the unveiling of the 64-team field.

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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.