Mercer Blast Pushes UMSL to Championship Sunday

Mercer Hits Solo Home Run; McCoy Pitches Big in Relief for Win

Sauget, Ill. – The Missouri-St. Louis baseball team advanced to championship Sunday in the GLVC Baseball Tournament, as the Rivermen defeated Wisconsin-Parkside 2-0 at GMC Stadium in Sauget, Ill. The Rivermen will now play on Sunday in the first game at 12 noon for a chance on the GLVC title, but will have to win two games on Sunday.

The game was a pitchers’ dual in the early going, as neither offense could get any runs. UMSL got out of a few jams in the early innings and Wisconsin-Parkside had the bases loaded in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings but failed to get a run across. In the fourth, UMSL starter Josh Morgan (St. Louis, Mo./St. Mary’s) got a fly out to end the inning and then got a ground out in the fifth with bases loaded. Reliever Stephen McCoy (Potosi, Mo./Potosi) then got out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth with a strikeout. In the bottom of the sixth, the Rivermen got the first run of the game when Jonathan Mercer (Sullivan, Mo./Sullivan) blasted a solo home run to left field for the 1-0 lead. The Rivermen would add a run in the eighth when Colby Hughes (Walnut Shade, Mo./Branson) scored on an infield error for a 2-0 lead going into the ninth.

Stephen McCoy picked up the win for UMSL in relief after coming in to pitch in the sixth inning for Josh Morgan, who left with an injury. McCoy pitched 3.1 innings, including getting out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth, and gave up just one hit and struck out two. Morgan went 5.2 innings and gave up no runs on just four hits before leaving the game after landing awkwardly while avoiding a line drive back up the middle.

Missouri-St. Louis is now 30-22-1 on the season and will play at 12 noon on Sunday and will have to win two games in order to defend their 2003 title. The Rivermen will face Northern Kentucky at 12 noon at GMC Stadium in Sauget, Ill., and will have to win twice Sunday to win the GLVC title for the second straight year.