Mercer baseball closed out a three-game series at home versus Southern University this past Saturday, winning two of the three games to advance their record to 12-4.
The series began March 7 with a shutout win for the Bears, 6-0. Reigning SoCon Pitcher of the Week Colton Cosper ‘25 started for the Bears, pitching seven innings with five strikeouts and no runs. Cosper's performance brought his season ERA to 3.60. The game was closed out by Craig Kalkbrenner ‘28, who threw two strikeouts in two innings to give the team the win.
Offensively, Mercer came out with a slow start, but a Ty Dalley ‘26 single in the bottom of the third inning drove in Michael Graziano '27. This opened the floodgates, and Mercer’s offense, the third-best in the Southern Conference in total hits, added four more runs to the scoreboard before the end of the inning. Parker Lester ‘26 made a sacrifice grounder to score another run, followed by Brant Baughcum ‘26 driving in yet another run the next at-bat. With two outs left, Titan Kamaka ‘26 then put the finishing touches on a dominant inning with a two-run home run.
The Bears played a doubleheader to close the series on Saturday, dropping the first game, 12-9, but bouncing back to claim the series with a 6-4 victory. The first game was a back and forth affair as Southern jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning. Mercer stemmed the bleeding after the second inning, replacing starting pitcher Jess Ackerman '26 with Bryce Hawkins '26. By the sixth inning, the Bears had overtaken the visiting Jaguars, leading 9-6. The Southern offense reawakened in the seventh inning as it homered four times in three innings to finish the game.
The second game of the doubleheader got off to a quick start for Mercer, who jumped out to a 6-0 lead. Among those who scored for the Bears, Cade Norton ‘28 knocked in the first of his collegiate career. Mercer ace Braydon Kersey ‘28 was dominant in the first half as well, allowing no hits in five innings. The right-handed pitcher allowed a three-run homer in the sixth inning before exiting the game.
This series continued a hot start to the season for the Bears, who have dropped just one of their last four games. They are led offensively by star player Bradley Frye: Frye leads the conference in batting average, hitting .471 this season. Frye has made a massive jump this year and is on track to nearly triple his hits from last year, when he was key in Mercer’s run to the SoCon semifinals. Defensively, the Bears possess a deep pitching squad anchored by Cosper, who was nominated for the 2024 SoCon All-Tournament Team. Cosper finished with the fifth-lowest ERA in the SoCon last season, and now leads a Mercer bullpen that is top-two in WHIP across the conference.
Mercer will continue their home stand as they take on Alabama State (6-11) on March 11 and in-state rival Kennesaw State University (6-10) on March 12. Following a home series against Tennessee Tech (12-4) from March 14-16, the Bears will travel to Tallahassee to take on No. 6 Florida State University.
Jacob Hossler '28 is an English and Law and Public Policy double major at Mercer University. While not serving as the Sports Editor at The Cluster, he enjoys running, writing and photography.
