SAVANNAH, Ga.- Mercer scored early and often as the Bears defeated Savannah State 12-4 at Grayson Stadium.

Mercer failed to score in the top of the first but sent runners across the plate in the other eight innings as they had 13 hits and drew seven walks.

Savannah State led 1-0 after the first inning as Emory Barkley hit a RBI single that scored Todd Hagen, who struck out swinging but reached on a wild pitch.

Mercer scored once in the second and three times in the top of the third for a 4-1 advantage.

The Tigers cut their deficit to 4-3 in the bottom of the third as Barkley hit a two-run double that scored Hagen and Dexter Kelley. Hagen and Kelley both hit singles to reach base.

Austin Barrett hit a solo home run for Mercer in the fourth and Nate Moorhouse hit a RBI single in the fifth for a 6-3 lead.

John Moreland hit a two-run triple in the sixth to give Mercer a 8-3 lead but SSU got a run back when Russel Cooper singled home Kevin Herlihy who led off with a walk.

Moorhouse hit a solo home run for Mercer in the seventh and the Bears added one run in the eighth and scored twice in the ninth for a eight-run victory to improve to 15-8.

Barkley had two hits and three RBIs for the Tigers while Cordarin Robertson had two hits and Hagen scored twice. Tommy Freeman took the loss for SSU (12-10). Freeman pitched two innings and gave up one hit, two runs and two walks while striking out two.

Russell Moses struck out three in 4.2 innings for Mercer while giving up six hits and three runs. Moorhouse had three hits for the Bears.