Bears Falter in Home Opener Against Georgia State

- J. Andrew Lockwood -
Senior Editor of The Bear Zone/ Sports Columnist
james.andrew.lockwood@student.mercer.edu

Who in the wide world of sports is Jacob Tanis?  Listed as a 6’1” infielder out of Peachtree City, Georgia, you should probably start getting acquainted with reading his name in the box scores.  His two-homerun effort against Georgia State accounted for virtually most of Mercer’s offense in their home opener at Claude Smith Field last Wednesday against in-state rival Georgia State (4-1).

            Mercer (1-3) came into the game with a big victory of highly touted opponent #6 Ole Miss on the road, but also lost key road games against South Alabama and Liberty.  Returning to Macon for the first home game of the season, Mercer’s Tyler Beesley (0-1) only lasted for 2.2 innings as he gave up the game’s first three runs to the Panthers in the second and third innings.  Scoring on a passed ball, Georgia State’s Matt Van Horn would score the first run of the day giving the Panthers a lead they’d never relinquish.  For the rest of the game, head coach Craig Gibson would fall back on his bullpen, bringing in a total of four relievers to face the Panthers offense. 

            Although he saw only 1.2 innings of action, side-arm reliever J.T. Odom was perhaps the most effective, ringing up three strikeouts while walking only one of the six batters he faced.  For Georgia State, Will Palmer’s second start of the season could be described as consistent.  Palmer (1-1) would last for 6.2 innings giving up three runs and stifling Mercer’s bats for the majority of the day. 

            The Bear’s bright spot at the plate had to be Tanis who would finish the day 3-for-4 with 4 RBI and 2 HRs.  Michael Langley would account for another of Mercer’s runs with a solo homerun to leftfield in the 4^th inning.  Designated hitter Tyler McCarty would finish the day 2-for-4, accounting for 2 of the Bears’ 7 hits for the day. 

            Small ball ultimately led the Panthers to victory as pinch hitter Jonathan Kolowich would replace Matt Van Horn in rightfield, leading to a 2-for-3 day with 3 RBI and a run scored.  Altogether, the Panthers would score nine runs off of eleven hits and five walks.

            “Palmer did a great job tonight,” said Gibson after the game on MercerBears.com.  “We’re a little inexperienced and didn’t do a good job of getting him into some jams.  We had a lot of first-pitch outs and he just cruised,” the head man added. 

            After a series of rainouts against Rhode Island based Bryant University, the Bears hope to rebound against Bethune Cookman on the road before returning back home to face Lipscomb during the spring break week.  The three game series against the Bisons will be Mercer’s first A-Sun test of the 2009 season.  

Photo Courtesy of MercerBears.com