Thunderous fourth inning fuels Mercer baseball’s 14-4 win over Kennesaw State

Mercer baseball got back on track at home Tuesday night, clobbering three home runs in the fourth inning alone — including a go-ahead grand slam from Eli Stephens — en route to a nine-run frame that helped them outpace in-state opponent Kennesaw State in a 14-4 victory that only took seven innings.

The Bears improved to 22-7 with the win and snapped a three-game skid that came at the hands of No. 13 Oregon State last weekend, where they faced some of the country’s top pitchers and put up a good fight in two of the three games.

“We scored more on their Friday night than anybody has all year and we had a chance to win Friday and Sunday. The end results weren’t great, but I think our guys got back on track tonight,” head coach Craig Gibson said. “We didn’t fly 3,000 miles for a moral victory, but we played in front of a big crowd and got to see some elite arms. We played really well outside of three innings … if you ask me, the trip was worth it.”

The third and fourth innings were the key points of the contest. The Owls took the lead in the third, but reliever Andrew Garnett managed to escape a bases-loaded, nobody out jam with only two Kennesaw State runs crossing the plate. 

Then came a game-tying homer from Michael Graziano in the bottom of the third, followed by Stephens’ slam and two more home runs in the fourth inning that opened things up for the Bears.

“To stop it right there and then for the hitters to get us a little breathing room, you can’t say enough. I think what we’ve done offensively, our guys have created (and) sort of suffocated the other pitcher where every pitch is a big pitch. We have the ability to do that, one-through-nine,” Gibson said.

Stephens’ big fly felt like the most crucial of the bunch, as it came with the contest still tied in the fourth and felt like the dam breaking open after Mercer had stranded a handful of runners in the first three innings.

“We saw the best pitching staff in the country. I feel like seeing that type of stuff… coming back and seeing this, it makes everything look easier,” Stephens said. “That guy (for Kennesaw) was a good arm, mid-90s guy. A lot of fastballs, though. So when I got to two strikes … I was late on the fastball, but that’s our two-strike timing.

“I got lucky, I guess,” he added with a small smile.

The homer was one of three hits on the night for Stephens and netted him four of his six RBIs. Both of those numbers led the team.

The home runs that gave Mercer the momentum were set up by smart at-bats by the top of Mercer’s order. The grand slam, for instance, was set up by a walk, a single and a hit batter by the 2-4 spots in the lineup. The entire lineup seemed to click for the Bears when it counted.

“Just a great team win tonight,” Stephens said. “Drew Johnson came in and hit a massive home run, couldn’t be more happy for that guy. Then (Chris) Katz hit a homer in that inning, too, I think. We have guys like Drew who can come off the bench and hit a ball 108 (mph).”

It was a close game early, though both teams struggled with command on the bump and issued free passes that led to runs. Braydon Kersey, who is typically a contributor at the dish for the Bears and leads the team with 10 home runs this season, got the start on the mound.

“We wanted to get Braydon to focus on pitching tonight. He’s been giving us a great boost offensively in the cleanup spot, but we wanted him to just be a pitcher tonight. And of course (Kaleb Huffman’s) at-bats have been great,” Gibson said. “We had an opportunity to get Drew Johnson in there. He hit a double out at Oregon State and we felt like we wanted to get him a matchup tonight.”

Mercer plated two runs in the bottom of the first but left runners on base, and it looked like the missed opportunity might come back to bite them when a rough outing from Aidan Hayse allowed Kennesaw State — which had scored in the second inning — to plate three runs in the third to go ahead 4-2.

The Bears shrugged it off in the bottom of the same frame with Graziano’s blast, the first of many blows that would come courtesy of the bottom part of the lineup. The nine-spot came in the next inning, which sealed the deal for good.

Mercer’s bullpen did an excellent job keeping the Owls in check after the first three innings. Jess Ackerman was particularly key, coming in after the big fourth inning and striking out four batters in a clean two frames to set things up for Collin Ewaldsen and Kai Decker to finish things off in the seventh.

“We wanted to get Ewaldsen back in there. He’s had some scuffles. We’ve never scuffled on him, we believe in him, but I think tonight was good for him. I think he was up to 94-95 mph,” Gibson said. “Decker looks like he may be a guy who can help us at the end of the game, so we wanted him to get out there. I think he was up to 95-96 mph with balls in the strikeout.

The victory continued Mercer’s winning ways at home — the Bears are now 17-2 at OrthoGeorgia Park on the year. A critical Southern Conference road series against UNC Greensboro beginning Thursday, which puts Mercer on a short week.

“We’re in great position for this weekend on a short week,” Gibson said. “They’re gonna play well at home, a couple years ago they won the league. … They’re gonna be ready to play, and we know going on the road you gotta be offensive and they’re gonna pitch well.”