MACON, Ga. – The Wofford baseball team dropped its series opener at Mercer 9-8 in eleven innings at OrthoGeorgia Park on Friday night. The Terriers (30-12, 8-2) came back with four runs in the eighth inning to force the Bears (30-12, 5-5) into extras. Both teams scored one run in the tenth inning, and Wofford scored once in the top of the eleventh. Mercer had back-to-back RBI singles to walk it off.
Alec Bouchard started for the Terriers, pitching for 6.1 innings. Bouchard gave up five hits and two runs while striking out seven batters.
Branton Little followed, pitching for 3.2 innings with four hits and four runs allowed with six strikeouts.
Champ Davis (3-1) closed it out for the Terriers in the 11
th.
The Terriers were off to a slow start, seeing their first hit in the third inning. The Bears put themselves on the board first, breaking the deadlock in the fourth inning. Mercer added one more run in the fifth for a 2-0 lead. In the sixth inning with two outs and two runners on base,
Hunter Herndon singled to left field to drive in both runners to tie the game at 2-2. The Bears had a grand slam on two outs to break through for a 6-2 lead in the sixth inning.
The Terriers got back into the game with an RBI single by
Lucas Manning that brought home
James Layman. An error followed, bringing in two runs for Wofford to cut it to a 6-5 game. An RBI single by
Niko Brini tied the game at 6-6. The Wofford held off Mercer for the next two innings without allowing a hit from the Bears to force extra innings.
Brady Gold led off in the tenth with a double to left field to put the Terriers in scoring position. A sacrifice bunt by
Cade Collins advanced Gold to third. With a full count on the board for
Logan Tribble, he hit a single to drive home Gold to lift the Terriers 7-6 over the Bears. Mercer didn't hesitate to strike back with a single and an RBI double to tie the ball game once again at 7-7. With two outs in the top of the eleventh, a walk was issued to
Tanner Hardin.
Lucas Manning doubled deep to center field to drive home Hardin to put Wofford in front 8-7. The Bears opened the bottom half with a double and back-to-back singles from Mercer's batting order would walk it off for the Bears at 9-8.
Quick Hits:
- Starting Lineup: Cade Collins (3B), Niko Brini (CF), Logan Tribble (LF), Ben Timblin (RF), Marc Quarrie (DH), Hunter Herndon (1B), Tanner Hardin (2B), Lucas Manning (C), Brady Gold (SS), and Alec Bouchard (SP).
- Â The Bears snapped the Terriers nine-game winning streak in tonight's extra innings loss.
- It was the third extra-innings game of the season for Wofford, as the team is 1-2 in extra innings.
- Â This is the first series opener loss since March 20, when Wofford lost 8-1 to Xavier.
- The Terriers' pitching staff recorded 13 strikeouts, the fourth-most of the season.
The Terriers are back at OrthoGeorgia Park Saturday, April 25, at 2 p.m., as Wofford takes on Mercer in game two of the series.
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