Box Score (PDF) | Overall Stats (PDF)

MACON, Ga. – The Citadel baseball team went 11-for-20 with two outs and collected 14 hits en route to a 9-8 win over second-place Mercer on Sunday.
 
With the win over Mercer (30-18, 14-7 SoCon), the Bulldogs (16-32, 6-12 SoCon) have now taken at least one game from the top three teams in the conference.
 
The Bulldogs scored in the first inning in all three games of the series, and Sunday's run came courtesy of a solo home run over the left field wall by Mike Deese, whose fourth home run of the year gave The Citadel a 1-0 lead. Mercer took the lead just a half inning later on a two-run home run over the right field wall, but William Kinney ended the scoring threat with an incredible bare-handed snag up the middle to throw the runner out at first.
 
Thanks to a three-run, two-out rally an inning later, the Bulldogs retook the lead in the top of the second. Shy Phillips tied the game with a single to center field, scoring Taylor Cothran from second base, and Mike Deese tallied his second and third RBI of the day with a single up the middle to give The Citadel a 4-2 lead.
 
The Citadel continued to do damage with two outs after Kinney plated three off of his second home run of the year to extend the lead to 7-2 in the top of the fourth. Both Kinney and Deese collected three RBI in the game.
 
Mercer plated three runs in the sixth and seventh innings but The Citadel added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh on back-to-back singles by Stephen Windham and Ben Peden to make it 9-5.
 
The Bears responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame before Zach Lavery came on in relief and threw one pitch to end the inning and keep The Citadel's lead at 9-8.
 
With Mercer down to its last out and the bases loaded, Lavery induced a fly out to right field by the Bears' cleanup hitter to end the game and give The Citadel the Southern Conference win.
 
Peden finished the day three-for-five and Taylor Cothran, Kinney and Deese all chipped in two hits apiece. Deese and Cothran scored two runs each. The Bulldogs outhit the Bears for the second time in the series and every starter tallied a hit for the first time since February 26.
 
Jacob Watcher allowed just three hits through the first four innings and finished the day allowing six hits in 5.0 innings en route to his sixth win of the season. Lavery finished with three Ks in 2.1 innings of work and picked up his eighth save.
 
The Citadel returns home for a four-game homestand beginning on Wednesday when the Bulldogs host Winthrop for the last home midweek game of the season at 5 p.m. Live stats, video and audio will be available at CitadelSports.com.
 
Scoring Summary
Top 1st – The Citadel 1, Mercer 0: Mike Deese hit a solo home run over the left field wall with two outs
Bottom 1st – Mercer 2, The Citadel 1: Trey Truitt scored from 1st on a home run over the right field wall by Danny Edgeworth with no outs
Top 2nd – The Citadel 2, Mercer 2: Taylor Cothran scored from 2nd on a single to center field by Shy Phillips with two outs
Top 2nd – The Citadel 4, Mercer 2: Clay Martin scored from 3rd and Shy Phillips scored from 2nd on a single up the middle by Mike Deese with two outs
Top 4th – The Citadel 7, Mercer 2: Stephen Windham scored from 3rd and Ben Peden scored from 2nd on a home run to left field by William Kinney with two outs
Bottom 5th – The Citadel 7, Mercer 3: Hunter Benning scored from 3rd on a 5-4-3 double play for the first and second outs
Bottom 6th – The Citadel 7, Mercer 4: Kyle Lewis hit a solo home run over the left center field wall with no outs
Bottom 6th – The Citadel 7, Mercer 5: Blaise Lezynski hit a solo home run over the right field wall with two outs
Top 7th – The Citadel 8, Mercer 5: Taylor Cothran scored from 2nd on a single to right field by Stephen Windham with two outs
Top 7th – The Citadel 9, Mercer 5: Mike Deese scored from 3rd on a single up the middle by Ben Peden with two outs
Bottom 7th – The Citadel 9, Mercer 6: Trey Truitt hit a solo home run over the left field wall with two outs
Bottom 7th – The Citadel 9, Mercer 8: Danny Edgeworth scored from 1st on a home run over the center field wall by Kyle Lewis with two outs
 
For more information on The Citadel baseball, follow @CitadelBaseball or visit CitadelSports.com.