Florida A&M baseball upends Mercer, 15-7

MACON, Georgia -- Mercer managed six hits in a 15-7 nonconference defeat at the hands of Florida A&M on Wednesday afternoon at OrthoGeorgia Park.

A day after notching 13 hits and rallying for a walk-off win in extra innings against the Rattlers (2-3), Mercer (3-2) struggled early and late and dropped its second game of the season. The Bears led, 7-6, heading into the top of the seventh inning, but nine Florida A&M runs over the seventh and eighth frames put the game out of reach.

Trailing 6-2 entering the home half of the fourth, Mercer rallied with five runs on five hits, including a RBI double by Alex Hanson and two-run pinch-hit single by JT Thomas, which gave the Bears a one-run advantage. Starting pitcher Tanner Hall went one inning before Mercer turned to the bullpen. Nine Bears pitched in total Wednesday as the Rattlers totaled 17 hits and drew six walks.

The Bears will get a chance to claim the season series against Florida A&M on March 27 when they head to Tallahassee, Fla. for another mid-week clash.

Coach Gibson's Take
Opening statement:
"One positive tonight was that we came from behind in the fourth inning after trailing early," said head coach Craig Gibson. "But overall, we just gave too many free opportunities to a good baseball club and Florida A&M took advantage of it."

On looking ahead to the weekend series: "The great thing is that we're not playing our best baseball right now, and that's fine. We're just getting started. We've got a chance to get going on Friday night and we'll look to get better as many of our new faces continue to develop. It's a work in progress – we'll get going against a good UNC Asheville club [this weekend]."

Player of the Game
JT Thomas singled home a pair of runs with a pinch-hit single in the fourth inning and took over at catcher for the remaining five innings. He threw out one Florida A&M baserunner the following inning.

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