MACON, Ga. - The Georgia Southern baseball team came out on top in a back-and-forth affair against the Mercer Bears, leaving Macon with a 12-11 win and a season sweep over its I-16 rivals. Georgia Southern now sits a game above .500 before its weekend conference series at Southern Miss.

Mercer (14-8) got on the board in the bottom of the second inning with a pair of two-run homers, racing out to a quick 4-0 lead before the Eagles (11-10) responded in the top of the third inning. Georga Southern tied up the game in the top of the third inning, starting with a Jarrett Brown sac fly, Jesse Sherrill running home on a wild pitch, and a Luke Hatcher two-run homer to left center field. Blake Evans immediately followed up Hatcher with a solo shot of his own, taking a 5-4 lead over Mercer after three frames of baseball.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Mercer retook with lead with two more solo homers and a RBI-single, taking a 7-5 lead into the top of the seventh inning. In that inning, the Eagles would score five more runs, starting with a Zane Faulk RBI-single, a JD Kaiser RBI-single, a Sam Blancato two-RBI double that hopped over the Bears first baseman, and a Sherrill RBI-groundout, taking the 10-7 lead. GS would add onto its lead in the top of the next frame, when Blake Evans hit his second home run of the season to punctuate his 4-for-4 day, a two-run slam to right center field that put GS up 12-7.

Mercer started to rally back against the Eagles, putting one up in the bottom of the eighth inning and closed the gap to one run with a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning. Jay Thompson earned his sixth save of the season by striking out the final Bear batter swinging, clinching the season sweep of the Bears for the Eagles.

Zachary Harris earned his first collegiate win with a strikeout in one inning of work. Harris was the pitcher active for the Eagles when the Eagles retook the lead in the top of the seventh inning.

QUICK HITS

• Blake Evans had a career day with a perfect 4-for-4 performance, with two home runs, three RBI, and three runs scored of his own. Other Eagles with a multi-hit performance were JD Kaiser (three hits), Luke Hatcher (two hits) and Sam Blancato (two hits).
• Five Eagles pitchers combined for nine strikeouts. Starter Ga'von Wray had four, Will Robbins had two, and Zachary Harris, Jonah Milchuck, and Jay Thompson all had one each.
• Zachary Harris earned his first win of his college career.
• Georgia Southern has now swept Mercer for the second-consecutive season.

UP NEXT
Georgia Southern ventures back into conference play with a road series at Southern Miss. The three-game tilt starts on Friday, March 24, with first pitch from Pete Taylor Park scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.