3 MERCER 2-4 •0-0 SoCon

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 3 10 5 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 3 1 Daytona Beach, Fla. • Jackie Robinson Ballpark Attendance: 94 Final Stats | Season Stats | Postgame Interview

2 BETHUNE-COOKMAN 0-5 • 0-0 MEAC

 RBI

	Pitching Stats
		L	C. Clymer (0-2)
		W	R. Askew (2-0)
		S	D. Kourtis (1)
	Batting Stats
	2B
		Truitt (2)
	RBI
		Bond (1), Middleton (1)
		Madden (2)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Keith Zuniga tossed six frames and allowed just a pair of hits Friday night, but it was Mercer coming up with a pair of clutch seventh inning runs to claim the series-opener from Bethune-Cookman, 3-2 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

A pitching duel that was highly-touted coming into the night turned out to be everything it was expected to be and more. Starters Keith Zuniga (Bethune-Cookman) and Ryan Askew (Mercer) spun a pair of gems on the hill for their respective clubs, with Zuniga picking up his second consecutive quality start – as well as Askew.

With Mercer (2-4) getting to Zuniga for four hits in the opening four frames, the redshirt senior right-hander from Nogales, Arizona settled in each time to shut the door on the Bears and keep the scoreboard clean in the runs column.

The Bears finally got to the B-CU ace in the fifth.

Mercer's Trey Truitt reached safely with two outs as a throw from third baseman Jordan Robinson sailed past the glove of Austin Garcia at first. That kept the inning alive for Nate Moorhouse to be hit by a pitch, as well as leadoff hitter Kyle Lewis singling through the left side to load up the bases for the Bears.

Catcher Charlie Madden laced a single to score Truitt from third, giving the visitors from Macon, Georgia a 1-0 lead.

Bethune-Cookman (0-5) answered back in the bottom of the frame.

After Jameel Edney and Austin Garcia found their way on base, Bryant Munoz – starting in place of the injured Julian Santos in the outfield, laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position. A batter later, catcher Clay Middleton used a RBI groundout to first in order to cross Garcia from third, knotting the game at 1-1.

B-CU took its first lead of the night in the sixth.

Centerfielder Jake Welch reached on an error charged to the Mercer infield – one of five on the night for the Bears, before trotting to second on the play. He would come around to score two plays later with Nathan Bond's RBI fielder's choice to shortstop, giving the Wildcats a 2-1 advantage after six innings.

Truitt pounded out a double to lead off the seventh, spawning B-CU fourth-year head coach Jason Beverlin to make the switch on the mound. Clint Clymer, a junior from Seabreeze High, toed the rubber with Truitt already in scoring position.

Madden grounded out to shortstop in order to plate Truitt, before Lewis eventually scored on a wild pitch from the hard-throwing right-hand transfer from Southern Wesleyan. That allowed the Bears to claim the final 3-2 decision.

Despite Bethune-Cookman loading the bases in the seventh against Mercer relief pitcher Dimitri Kourtis, the Cats could not find a way to bring anyone across for the would-be tying score.

In all, Bethune-Cookman left eight men in scoring position, while the Bears countered with nine men left on.

Mercer was able to register 10 hits in the game, while the Wildcats could account for just three.

Mercer was led at the plate by centerfielder Lewis with a 4-for-5 outing, as well as third baseman Danny Edgeworth with two hits in four appearances.

B-CU got its hits from a trio of players – Garcia, Munoz and Demetrius Sims.

Askew collected the win, improving to 2-0 on the year – with the Bears' two wins on the season coming on the arm of Askew. He finished the night throwing 6 2/3 innings, scattering two hits and allowing two unearned runs, while striking out six against just a single walk.

B-CU's Zuniga was equally impressive in the no-decision. He finished with a line of eight hits allowed, but just two runs (one earned) and producing six strikeouts against zero (0) walks.

The Wildcats will look to even the series Saturday at 1 p.m., back at Radiology Associates Field at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

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