MACON, Ga. – The UNCG baseball team scored a pair of victories at Mercer Sunday to clinch a big road series win as the Spartans downed the Bears 9-3 and 8-7 at Claude Smith Field. The Blue and Gold piled up 28 hits during the day in handing Mercer (26-18, 11-6 SoCon) just its second and third losses at home in conference play this season.

The wins keep UNCG (19-20, 10-8 SoCon) in a virtual deadlock for third place with next weekend's opponent Wofford setting up a big series at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.

The Spartans will step away from league play Tuesday traveling to Chapel Hill for a 6 p.m. nonconference contest against North Carolina at Boshamer Stadium.

Game One

UNCG took the lead in the third inning and did not surrender it on the way to evening the series in the first contest.

Senior outfielder Tyler Long paced the offense with three hits in five at bats while junior infielder Collin Woody recorded two hits as well as tallying a run scored a four RBI. Senior infielder Aaron Wright drove in three runs, scored a pair and walked three times. Kyle Lewis had a flawless day at the dish for the Bears as he was 5-for-5 with a pair of RBI.

Senior Tyler Frazier improved to 3-0 on the season after tossing the final five innings and allowing just one run on five hits. He struck out three and walked one. Freshman RHP Andrew Wantz did not factor into the decision but he gave the Spartans four strong innings. He surrendered two runs on seven hits with two walks and a strikeout. Grant Papelian was saddled with the loss after giving up four runs on eight hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

Mercer jumped ahead with a run in the bottom of the second. In the top of the third, freshman infielder Tripp Shelton drew a leadoff walk and senior outfielder Zac MacAneney recorded a single to put runners on first and second. After a Hunter King lineout, Wright deposited a ball over the fence in right center to give the Spartans a 3-1 advantage. The Bears would scratch a run across in the bottom of the third to trim UNCG's lead to one.

A Danny Edgeworth sacrifice bunt put two Mercer runners into scoring position in the bottom of the fifth. However, Frazier induced a fly out to center to escape the threat.

The Blue and Gold added to its lead with a two-out rally in the top of the sixth. Kalbfleisch kickstarted it with a double to right center and scored when senior outfielder Nick Chapman singled to center as UNCG pulled in front 4-2.

The Spartans put the game away in the top of the ninth loading the bases with no outs. Following singles by MacAneney and King, as well as a Wright walk, Woody got into a 2-2 pitch and sent it over the left field fence just inside the left field foul pole for UNCG's second grand slam of the season. With the score at 8-2, sophomore catcher Jake Kusz added a RBI single for good measure. The Bears scored a run in the bottom of the ninth to account for the final margin.

Game Two

The teams traded the lead back and forth in the nightcap before UNCG took the lead for good in the top of the eighth. The Spartans ripped four home runs in the contest to bring their season total to 44. UNCG out-hit Mercer 12-10 in the game.

King went 4-for-5 with three runs scored while MacAneney was 2-for-4 with three runs scored a two RBI. Kalbfleisch also turned in a two-hit performance to go along with two runs scored and two RBI.

Junior LHP Bryant Stafford picked up the win to improve to 4-2 after not allowing a run or hit over the final 2 and 2/3 innings. Morgan Pittman suffered the loss to drop to 2-1 after surrendering three runs (two earned) on five hits with three strikeouts.

MacAneney led off the nightcap with a walk and King followed with a single to left field. With two away later in the frame, Long flared a double to left scoring both runners and giving the Spartans an early 2-0 advantage.

After getting two quick outs in the bottom of the second, UNCG starter Chad Sykes gave up four consecutive base hits as the Bears claimed the lead at 3-2.

MacAneney quickly tied it up in the top of the third with a solo home run to center and King stole second, third and home base in succession to make it 4-3 Spartans but a two-run shot by Jackson Ware in the bottom of the frame tilted the scales in Mercer's favor once more. The home run parade continued in the top of the fourth as Kalbfleisch took one deep off of the scoreboard in left field to knot the score at five.

The scoring settled down for a bit after that until the Blue and Gold put up a two-spot in the top of the seventh to pull ahead 7-5. MacAneney's second home run of the game accounted for the first run and Woody added a RBI single with two away.

The Bears rallied once more in the bottom of the seventh scoring two runs on four hits and tying things at seven. Stafford was able to come on with two runners on base and only one out to put out the fire as he induced a pair of fly ball outs to end the seventh.

Kalbfleisch provided the winning tally in the top of the eighth as he ripped a two-out solo homer, his second of the game, to right center giving UNCG an 8-7 advantage. Stafford worked out of a jam in the bottom of the eighth recording a huge strikeout of the dangerous Lewis to keep the Bears off of the scoreboard.

Despite a leadoff walk in the bottom of the ninth, Stafford was able to get to two outs with runners at second and third. With Trey Truitt at the dish, Stafford got him to fly out to center on a full count to seal the victory.

Keep up with the UNCG baseball team all year long by logging on to www.uncgspartans.com and following the Spartans' official Twitter accounts @UNCGBaseball/@uncgsports.