Jake Mueller’s viral catch headlines an opening win for UNCG, but Mercer answers with a power surge to take the series
UNC Greensboro hosted a Mercer team that arrived road weary after spending the previous weekend on the West Coast against No. 7 Oregon State. Mercer’s trip to UNCG followed a familiar script: Mercer can be had for a game, but its lineup has so many relentless power bats that an explosion in two of the three games always feels inevitable. UNCG opened with a thrilling Game 1 win behind Jake Mueller’s nationally viral diving catch and took a 7-3 lead into the seventh inning of Saturday’s Game 2, but Mercer responded by outscoring the Spartans 21-4 over the next 10 innings to overwhelm them and capture the series.
Game 1: UNC Greensboro 5, Mercer 4
UNC Greensboro opened the series with a first-inning RBI double from Jacob Budzik to take a 1-0 lead, then added another run in the second when Ethan Brittain scored on a Mercer error by Brant Baughcum. Mercer answered in the third on a bases-loaded wild pitch, then took a 4-2 lead in the sixth after Spartan pitching walked five Bears and surrendered a two-RBI single to Michael Graziano.
UNCG tightened the game when Jake Mueller launched a solo home run in the seventh, but in the eighth, pinch-hitter Luke Holland delivered the eventual game-winning two-RBI single to give the Spartans a 5-4 lead heading into the final inning.
Mayson Dear then shut the door with a dominant ninth, retiring Mercer in order to preserve the win. The defining defensive moment came when Baughcum lifted a fly ball toward right field and Mueller made a spectacular diving catch that earned national attention and landed at No. 4 on ESPN’s Top 10 Plays.
Game 2: Mercer 9, UNC Greensboro 7
UNC Greensboro looked ready to take the series after jumping out to a 5-0 lead through four innings. Brantley Truitt delivered a two-run single, and Jake Mueller added two RBIs of his own with a single as the Spartans were in control early.
Mercer began its response in the fifth when Logan Shepherd homered with a runner aboard to make it 5-2. Brant Baughcum added a solo shot in the sixth, but UNCG answered with a Jacob Budzik two-run homer in the bottom half to keep the Spartans in front.
The seventh inning flipped the game. Mercer rallied with a Michael Graziano double that scored Dylan LaPointe, then loaded the bases before Baughcum hit a sac fly to cut further into the deficit. Titan Kamaka followed with an RBI single, and Eli Stephens capped the inning with a dramatic go-ahead three-run blast.
UNCG kept fighting and put two runners on with no outs in the ninth, but Mercer’s Braydon Kersey closed the door and finished off the 9-7 win.
Game 3: Mercer 15, UNC Greensboro 4
Mercer didn’t eff’ around and made sure Sunday would not become another tight finish. The Bears exploded for six runs in the top of the first and immediately put UNCG on the back foot. The Spartans responded with a Jacob Budzik two-run homer in the bottom of the inning, but Mercer kept separating itself.
The Bears added three more runs in the fifth on a Braydon Kersey three-run homer, while UNCG chipped away with a bases-loaded walk and a Brody Gardner RBI single to make it 9-4. That was as close as the Spartans would get.
Mercer then crushed the game open in the sixth. Titan Kamaka delivered an RBI double, Drew Johnson added a two-run single, Logan Shepherd launched a solo homer, and Brant Baughcum capped the surge with a two-run shot that triggered the run-rule finish.
