MACON, Ga. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) baseball team fell 7-4 to the Mercer Bears in the finale of a three-game weekend series of The Southern Conference (SoCon) action on Sunday afternoon at OrthoGeorgia Park.

The Spartans got into the score column first with Jacob Dilley hitting a solo home run to center. Three batters later, Luke Holland put a charge into one out to left-center for two more runs after Brantley Truitt reached on a single in the previous at-bat. The two home runs in the second inning put UNCG up by a 3-0 margin.

UNCG added another run to its lead, making it 4-0 in the top of the fourth inning, when Luke Jenkins doubled to right-center, allowing Jeremy Wolf to score from second after he advanced on a failed pickoff attempt. However, the Bears answered with a three-run homer to right-center in the bottom of the inning by Parker Lester to climb back into the fight, 4-3.

The Bears grabbed their first lead of the afternoon in the bottom of the fifth frame when Ty Dalley and Bradley Frye hit back-to-back homers for three runs to take a 6-4 lead.

Mercer extended its lead to 7-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning when Drew Johnson singled to right-center, which allowed Brant Baughcum to score from third.

Terry Busse was the sixth pitcher in the game for Mercer and entered to begin the eighth inning. He closed out the game, allowing one hit in the ninth before earning his seventh save of the season in the 7-4 victory.

PITCHING RECORDS:
Craig Kalkbrenner: W, 1-2
Jay Miller: L, 2-4
Terry Busse: Save, 7

NOTES:

• Dilley and Holland's home runs in the second inning were their fifth each this season and moved them both into a tie for second on the team.
• Dilley led the team with three hits while Jenkins finished with two.
• Wolf, Truitt, Dilley and Holland scored the runs for UNCG.
• Wolf paced the team with a pair of walks.
• Jay Miller and Noah Chapman pitched for the Spartans and combined for 12 strikeouts.
• Both sides had nine hits on the day.

RECORDS:
UNCG: 18-24, 7-5 SoCon
MER: 29-17, 9-6 SoCon

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The Spartans return home to play five straight at UNCG Baseball Stadium, including midweeks on Tuesday vs. Coastal Carolina and Wednesday vs. High Point before welcoming in The Citadel from Friday to Sunday for a SoCon weekend series. The midweek games are both scheduled for 6:00 p.m. starts while the weekend will feature a 4:00 p.m. first pitch on Friday, 7:00 p.m. on Saturday and 2:00 p.m. for Sunday's finale against The Citadel.

All regular season baseball home games are free admission. The concessions at UNCG Baseball Stadium are now open. Bringing in outside food is not permitted and pets are not allowed into the stadium.