MACON, Ga. - The Mercer Bears scored seven runs in the fifth inning and held on for a 10-6 win over the VMI Keydets in the opener of a SoCon doubleheader contested Saturday in Macon, Ga.
Two errors, including a dropped foul pop, led to six unearned runs for the home team in the fifth inning. The big blow was a grand slam by Hunter Bening off Jack Gomersall that capped the seven-run, three-hit inning.
Mercer (21-14, 7-3 SoCon) added single runs in each of the next three innings and then held on, as VMI (16-22, 1-9) scored four times in the ninth, including a two-run home run for Matt Dunlevy.
Matthew Eagle (5-4) took the loss for the Keydets, as he gave up six runs in 4 2/3 innings, but only one of those runs was earned. Ryan Askew was the winning pitcher and moved to 3-2 by allowing two runs on seven hits over seven innings.
Offensively, Dunlevy and David Geary had three hits apiece, while Danny Edgeworth and Trey Truitt had two hits apiece for Mercer.
