Saturday, May 28, 2011

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Four Mercer pitchers made a first-inning run stand up as the fourth-seeded Bears shut out and eliminated No. 2 seed Jacksonville in a 1-0 victory in the nightcap of the third day of the 2011 Atlantic Sun Baseball Championship on Friday night at Lipscomb’s Dugan Field.

Mercer (39-19) advances to Championship Saturday, needing two wins against No. 6 seed Belmont to capture its second-straight tournament title. The Bears’ lone loss in the tournament was a 6-4 setback to Belmont earlier on Friday.

Both of Jacksonville’s tournament losses came against Mercer. The Dolphins (36-22) couldn’t crack the Bears’ pitching that game either, falling 2-1 on Thursday. Friday night was the first 1-0 tournament game in 16 years.

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Read the Atlantic Sun Insider Column: J.T. Odom: Mercer's Very Own Rubberband Man

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Thomas Carroll doubled home Jacob Tanis with two outs in the top of the first to give the Bears a 1-0 lead. From there, Mercer starting pitcher Brandon Barker tamed the Jacksonville bats. He gave up six hits but let just one runner reach third base and left seven Dolphins on the basepaths. The freshman right-hander struck out eight and walked three, pitching into the seventh inning.

After giving up a two-out double to Taylor Ratliff, Barker was pulled for David Teasley. The righty forced a weak groundout back to the mound to end the inning.

Russell Moses started the seventh and struck out fellow lefty Daniel Gulbransen. He was then replaced by closer J.T. Odom. After giving up a single to the first batter he faced, he retired the final five batters over the next two innings to end the game and earn his eighth save. In four tournament games, Odom has pitched 8.2 innings in relief. The righty has allowed just three hits, two runs and one walk while striking out nine. This week, he has tossed 115 pitches and is 0-1 – he gave up a game-winning two-run homer against Belmont earlier on Friday – with three saves and a 2.08 ERA.

Not to be overlooked was the performance by right-handed pitcher Sean Green. The redshirt junior allowed three hits over the first three innings but after that he didn’t give up a hit until the seventh inning. He gave up lead-off double and was replaced by Chris Kaminski, who pitched two hitless innings. Green was the hard-luck loser, falling to 3-3 despite striking out three and walking none.

First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. tomorrow between Belmont and Mercer. Free live streaming of the broadcast can be seen on ASun.TV .