The ETSU baseball team picked up its fourth straight win as the Bucs defeated Mercer Friday night at Claude Smith Field in Macon, Ga., 6-3.
The win puts the Bucs at 11-10 overall, 4-6 in Atlantic Sun play.
Senior Ben Andrews picked up his first win of the season going 7.1 innings as he allowed three runs on eight hits with a walk and a season-high five strike outs.
The Bucs jumped out in front in the top of the first as first baseman Paul Hoilman doubled off of the fence in left to score left fielder Troy Mendez and third baseman Bo Reeder to give ETSU a 2-0 lead.
Joe Winker cut into the Buccaneer lead in the bottom of the first as he homered over the fence in right center to cut the lead to 2-1.
The Bears tied the game at 2-all in the bottom of the second as Thomas Carroll doubled in a run.
Mercer took the lead later in the inning on a Ben Allen error to take a 3-2 lead.
Derek Trent put the Bucs back in front in the top of the sixth as he doubled to left center driving in Mendez and Allen to go ahead 4-3. Later in the inning, Matthew Scruggs added an insurance run as he singled in Trent to extend the ETSU lead to 5-3.
Mendez gave ETSU a little more insurance in the top of the ninth as he singled back up the middle to score right fielder Cory Betterson to make the score 6-3 Bucs.
Darren Caldwell pitched a scoreless ninth for the Buccaneers as he picked up his first save of the season.
ETSU was led offensively by Hoilman and Mendez as Hoilman racked up two doubles and two RBI, while Mendez was 2-for-4 with an RBI and scored two runs. Scruggs also had a big day as he went 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI
The Bucs are back home on Tuesday, March 31 as they host in-state rival University of Tennessee. The game is set to start at 7 p.m.

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