JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (May 15, 2026) – The ETSU baseball team led league-leading Mercer by a score of 6-4 after five innings of play on Friday afternoon from Thomas Stadium. However, three home runs hit by the Bears over the final four frames erased ETSU's lead and propelled Mercer to a 9-7 victory. With Friday's loss, the Buccaneers move to 30-21 overall and 10-10 in SoCon play. Mercer, meanwhile, clinched a share of the SoCon Regular Season Championship with Friday's win.
For the fifth time in the last six games, the Bucs pounded out double-digit hits against the Bears on Friday.
Henry Ferguson (2-for-4, one RBI) and
Mason Ault (2-for-3, two runs scored) both had two-hit outings for ETSU, while
Joey Little (three RBI) and
Gabe Juarez (two RBI) knocked in five of ETSU's seven runs on the day.
The Bucs used four pitchers on Friday.
Michael Harpster made the start for ETSU and pitched the first six innings. Harpster, who pitched at least five innings in 11 of his 14 starts this season, allowed five runs on seven hits and struck out five Mercer hitters.
Reid Brosnan ended up taking the loss for ETSU after allowing three runs on two hits in a third of an inning.
Stratton Scott followed Brosnan with one inning of work before
Derek McCarley closed the game out with 1.2 shutout innings with three strikeouts.
Harpster and Mercer starting pitcher Miguel Hugas matched each other zero for zero through the game's first three innings. The visitors struck first with two runs on three hits to grab the first lead of the afternoon. ETSU answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning.
Jamie Palmese walked, and
Ian Guanzon was hit by a pitch to give the Bucs a pair of runners on with one out. Juarez delivered a two-run triple to knot the score at two.
Little brought Juarez home with a sacrifice fly to give the Bucs the 3-2 advantage. ETSU was not done, however, as it got back-to-back doubles from Ault and
Andrew Hill to grow its lead to 4-2.
Mercer and ETSU matched each other with two-run fifth innings. For the Bucs, Palmese and Guanzon scored, thanks again to a two-run single by Little, who put the home squad up 6-4 after five innings of play.
The Bears, who are among the national leaders in home runs, showed that power starting in the sixth. Mercer slugged home runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth to go with a sacrifice fly to put it back in front. ETSU got one of those runs back in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Ferguson to make it a two-run game, 9-7, going to the ninth.
Protecting a two-run lead, Mercer stuck with Braydon Kersey, who came in to pitch in the eighth after starting the day as the designated hitter. Kersey worked around a double by Palmese to close out the game for the Bears and, in doing so, picked up his fifth save of the 2026 campaign.
The Bucs will close out the regular season with the series finale against the Bears on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Thomas Stadium.
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