DANVILLE, Ky. - The Rhodes College baseball team got a pair of terrific performances from senior
Daniel Morris and sophomore
Jack Mercer as they earned a huge series win over Centre College, 5-1 and 4-1 (7), on Saturday afternoon.
Morris took the bump in the first contest for the Lynx as neither team got anything going through the first two innings. Rhodes would then explode in the third inning for five runs on six hits to take a 5-0 advantage.
Juniors
Bill Munson and
Ryan Olive got it started with a pair of RBI singles while senior
Marcus Moreland singled to right to score two more runs. A wild pitch would score sophomore
Levi Greenberg and increase the lead to five.
The Colonels would get on back in the fourth, but Morris (5-3) pitched seven complete, allowing only one run on five hits while striking out six to keep the Lynx comfortably ahead. Senior
Adam Putnam came out of the bullpen and closed the door, pitching two complete and allowing no hits while striking out two.
Greenberg finished with a pair of hits while the rest of the Lynx hits were scattered throughout the lineup. Munson, Olive, Greenberg, junior
Bennett Notestine, and freshman
Brady John each had a hit and a run scored while Moreland drove in a pair of runs.
In the second game, Mercer took the mound and found himself in a duel with Rob Caudill. Centre would actually take the 1-0 lead in the fourth while Rhodes still did not have a hit.
The Lynx finally broke up the no-no in the fifth inning, but were still down 1-0 in the seven inning game. It was not until the sixth inning where Caudill suddenly had some control issues.
Two walks as well as a single by Olive loaded the bases up for Rhodes with one away. Freshman
Will Hunt drew a walk to even the game while Moreland reached on an error to make it 2-1. Freshman
Jacob Telli then earned a walk followed by John being hit by a pitch as Rhodes suddenly held a 4-1 lead.
Mercer shut the Colonels down, giving them no chance in rallying as he pitched a complete game, allowing one run on five hits while striking out four batters. He moves to 3-3 on the season while earning his first ever complete game.
Olive and Moreland had the only two hits for the lynx while Hunt, Moreland, Telli, and John all drove in runs. Notestine, Olive, Greenberg, and Hunt all scored runs as well as the Lynx moved back over .500 for the season.
Rhodes sits at 18-17 overall and 8-9 in the SAA. The Lynx will go for the sweep on Sunday as in the series finale scheduled for 12 PM ET.
