BOX SCORE
MOREHEAD, Ky. – Mercer scored in the first five innings, and cruised to a 12-5 victory over Morehead State Sunday, earning a 2-2 split in the four-game series.
Drew Lee,
Cameron Flynn, and #J.D. Ashbrook# each hit home runs, while
Hunter Hewitt,
Jake Helvey,
Casey Branham, and Flynn teamed up to shutout the Bears over the final four innings to lead MSU.
Flynn blasted a home run in his first at-bat of the game, the second time this season Flynn has homered in his first at-bat of the game, giving the Eagles (2-2) a 1-0 lead after the top of one.
The Mercer bats came out slugging, going for three runs in both the first and second innings. Walks hurt starter Quentin Morgan in both innings as he dished out five total free passes, giving the Bears (2-2) RBI oppurtunities that Mercer cashed in.
Ashbrook pulled MSU to within four in the top of the second, smacking his first home run of the season, a solo shot to left field. The Bainer twins teamed up to produce a run in the top of the fourth.
Eric Bainer singled and then advanced to second on a wild pitch before brother Luke Bainer# doubled to right field to plate the run.
Mercer got another run in the third, although they should have had more after loading the bases with no outs. That Mercer was held to the single run was largely due to Ashbrook in center, who made his fourth spectacular diving catch of the series to record the first out. Ashbrook made another diving play in the sixth, ranging back and to his left before laying out on the warning track to rob Joe Winker of extra bases.
Mercer would go on to record two runs in the fourth and three in the fifth off relievers
Garrick Whittle and
Matthew Robertson.
The final two MSU runs came in the sixth and seventh. In the sixth,
Andrew Deeds reached on an error by shortstop Evan Boyd and eventually scored on a
Travis Redmon single down the leftfield line. Lee belted his second homer of the season to right center to close out the scoring in the seventh.
The Eagles return to action Tuesday afternoon as they travel to Louisville to take on the 17th ranked Cardinals. First pitch is set for 3:00 pm.
