It was looking like the Bucs would walk away with two of three series games Saturday. Then the eighth inning came. Junior pitcher Bo Burton came in to preserve ETSU’s two-run lead with two Mercer men on in the top of the eighth. When he forced the batter to hit into a double play, it seemed the game was all but over.

Mercer’s Travis Benn had other plans. He rocked Burton’s first pitch high over the right field wall to start an eight-run streak that would completely derail the Bucs, and propel the Bears to an 11-5 victory. With that, Mercer took two much-needed games out of the three-game series.

Although he was tabbed with the loss Saturday night, Burton was able to pick up a win in the first game of the series on Friday when the Bucs won 13-10. He has three wins and two losses on the year.

Junior Bo Reeder also picked up a loss for the Bucs in the first game of the double header Saturday afternoon. Reeder went five innings and allowed seven earned runs. He had two strikeouts and one walk.

Matthew Scruggs made sure that ETSU had a much happier night Friday against the Bears. On his birthday, the sophomore was only a single away from the cycle. Scruggs went four-for-six and recorded two homers, four RBIs, a triple, a double, and four runs scored.

Mercer senior Nick DiMauro seemed to figure out Bucs’ pitchers all weekend long. He batted five for 11 and had six RBIs for the Bears before being hit by a pitch in game three of the series and pulled out of the game.

The Atlantic Sun conference leader Jacob Tanis also had a relatively quite weekend. Part of the reason for that was because it seemed the ball hit him more than he hit the ball.

Tanis was hit three times on Saturday alone, but he was able to knock one over the fence in part of the eight-run frenzy for the Bears. Tanis is now five homers clear of Paul Hoilman in the season totals.

Hoilman was able to pass the 200-hit mark but it was on a very frustrating day for the junior. Hoilman struck out four times all weekend, and three of the four strikeouts came in game three of the series when he crossed that milestone.

With the losses, ETSU falls to 9-6 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Their record matches Jacksonville University, which is tied for fourth in the conference.

The Bucs travel to play Campbell University next week for another A-Sun series. The Bucs will need wins to keep up with the strong conference teams in Florida. For more information about ETSU baseball, visit ETSUBUCS.com.

Author