Friday's Baseball Roundup

Cosper’s Gem Helps Bears Silence Spartans
Senior left-hander Colton Cosper was magnificent on Friday night, throwing seven shutout innings before freshman Braydon Kersey locked it down with a six-out save to help Mercer take the series opener over UNC Greensboro by a score of 3-0 at OrthoGeorgia Park. Parker Lester (2-for-4) homered and drove in two runs, while Brant Baughcum (2-for-4) drove in a run of his own to lead the Bears in the batter's box. Cosper (6-1) limited the Spartans to four hits while striking out five to pick up his third consecutive win over UNCG. Kersey nailed down his first save of the season by retiring all six Spartans he faced, including two via the punch-out. Sam Murchison (5-4) took the loss for UNCG.

UNCG Baseball Drops Series Opener at Mercer
The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) baseball team fell 3-0 on Friday night to the Mercer Bears in the first game of a three-game weekend series in The Southern Conference (SoCon) action at OrthoGeorgia Park. Friday night's ball game was a pitcher's duel in Macon. No runs crossed the plate until the fifth inning while both sides only combined for 10 hits and struck out 16 times. Sam Murchison and Danny Thompson Jr. held it down for the Spartans, combining to strikeout the Bears nine times despite falling in the contest.

Bulldogs Shutout Keydets 5-0 in Series Opener
The Citadel shut out VMI 5-0 in the series opener, showcasing an outstanding performance by Andrew Stanley on Friday night. The Bulldogs struck first in the opening inning, scoring three runs. Travis Elliott drove in The Citadel's first run with an RBI single to right field, bringing in Phillips Daniels. The Citadel scored two more runs due to a throwing error by VMI, allowing Elliott and TJ Anderson to cross home plate, making it 3-0 after the first inning. The Bulldogs scored two late runs in the eighth inning, thanks to a Garrett Dill RBI double down the left field line that brought home Tyler Christmas, extending the lead to 4-0. Lane Tobin added the fifth run for The Citadel with an RBI single through the left side, scoring Dill from second base.

Spiegel tosses career-high nine strikeouts in loss to The Citadel
VMI Baseball was shut out by The Citadel in the series opener on Friday at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. The Keydets (25-18, 5-8 SoCon) suffered a 5-0 defeat to the Bulldogs, VMI's first shutout loss of the season. VMI had five hits, with Grayson Fitzwater accounting for three hits, including a double. Justin Spiegel went 6.2 innings, allowing just one earned run, with a career-high nine punchouts. Owen Prince had two walks and a hit.

Bucs down Toledo in the series opener, 8-4, in 10 innings
JD Yakubinis slugged a solo home run in the top of the tenth inning to spark a four-run inning for the ETSU baseball team as the Buccaneers battled back to earn a 8-4 victory in the series opener at Toledo on Friday afternoon. Friday's win boosts ETSU's record to 29-11 on the 2025 campaign. Most of ETSU's offensive production in Friday's win came from the bottom of its batting order. Eight of ETSU's 11 hits in the game came from the last four spots in the lineup. Yakubinis went 2-for-2 with the go-ahead home run in the tenth, while Henry Ferguson (2-for-4, two runs scored) and Jamie Palmese (2-for-3) had multi-hit efforts as well. Cody Miller (three RBI) and Axel Melendez (two RBI) drove in five of ETSU's eight runs against the Rockets to round out the offensive leaders for the Bucs.