Macon, Ga. (February 20th, 2018) - Florida A&M University baseball suffered a tough 11-10 loss to Mercer University on Tuesday night in a game that saw four lead changes over ten innings of play.
Mercer jumped on top early with a first inning solo homer by Le Bassett. They tacked on another two runs in the second thanks to a homerun to right field by Trey Truitt.
FAMU answered quickly. Shortstop John Capra led off the third inning with a double down the left field line, and advanced to third base on a Cameron Johnson single to left center. Capra would then score on a ground ball double play by Jordan Curtis, making the score 3-1 Mercer going into the bottom of the third.
The Rattlers took a 4-3 lead in the top of the fourth, thanks to a leadoff single by Dallas Oliver, an RBI double by Brian Davis, and then a two-run homer to right center field by Jacky Miles.
Mercer regained the lead on Le Bassett's second homerun of the day, this time scoring RJ Yeager and Trey Truitt. The homerun was followed by a JT Thomas single. Thomas then advanced on a groundout and scored on a Jackson Ware single, making the score 7-4 after four innings of play.
Brian Davis led off the sixth inning with a single, and after advancing to second on a passed ball, would go on to score on a double by Garrett Wilkinson. Wilkinson would then score on an error to bring FAMU within one run going into the bottom half of the inning.
Mercer increased the lead to two again in the eighth inning on a wild pitch by Thomas Nicoll, making the score 8-6.
However, the Rattlers were not done scoring, tying up the game in the ninth. Malachi Mitchell led off the inning with a single, advanced on a throwing error by the third baseman, and scored on an RBI single by Kaycee Reese. Ty Russ then entered the game as a pinch runner for Reese, and advanced to third base on a Dallas Oliver double before scoring on a wild pitch.
Florida A&M pitcher Thomas Nicoll then sent the game to extra innings with a scoreless ninth inning. The Rattlers would go on to take a two-run lead in the top of the tenth on a two-run homerun by Octavien Moyer.
Mercer answered in the bottom half with a leadoff single by Trey Truitt and a two-run homerun of their own by Alex Hanson. After a JT Thomas single and a Brandon Michie Walk, pinch runner Conrad Cornell would advance to third base on an infield hit and score the game winning run on a throwing error.
Nick Spear was credited with the win for the Bears of Mercer University, while starter Sawyer Gipson-Long went 5 innings, giving up four earned runs. Robert Broom threw 1 inning of relief and Christian Vann tossed 2.2 innings.
Thomas Nicoll took the loss for the Rattlers of Florida A&M University. Starter Pedro de los Rios threw 3.1 innings, and Chandellor Benton threw 4 innings of relief, giving up only one earned run.
Florida A&M will look to split the two-game series tomorrow at 4:00 PM at OrthoGeorgia Park in Macon, Georgia.
