MACON, Ga. - UNCG concedes the first game of this weekend's series against Mercer by a final of 7-4. Outfielder Corey Rosier delivered his seventh homer of the year while going 2-for-4 at the plate, as starting right hander Austin Koehn provided a quality start over 6.0 IP. 

The beginning stages of Saturday night's game had the attributes of a pitchers' duel with both starting hurlers facing the minimum through the first two innings. Daniel Cerda represented the first baserunner of the night with a two-out hit by pitch in the top half of the third, with Austin Koehn keeping the Bears hitless through the first nine outs of the contest. 

A leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth proved to haunt the Spartans, with a pair of fly balls leading to a go ahead run for the Bears on a sac fly.

Grant Jarman broke up the Mercer no-hitter but UNCG wouldn't open their scoring until the sixth. Cerda reached first once again, but this time on a bunt single, as his leadoff knock was followed by a Corey Rosier single to left. With the pair moving into scoring position on the sacrifice from Josh Madole, third baseman Greg Hardison drove in his two teammates on a single to left, giving the Spartans their first lead of the night.

Mercer retook its original advantage in the following frame however, thanks to a two-run, three-hit effort, giving the Bears a 3-2 advantage after six.

Koehn finished his day after that frame, facing just four over the minimum without surrendering a single walk. His effort on the bump gave the Spartans an opportunity to get back into the game, with Corey Rosier's eighth-inning solo shot getting UNCG back even at three apiece. Rosier's homer was his second knock of the evening, and his seventh long ball of 2021, putting him in a tie with Hogan Windish for the top mark on the Spartan roster for the spring. 

The Bears took the lead for a third time however, plating four runs off of two hits and a UNCG defensive error to make it 7-3. 

Windish and Pres Cavenaugh led off the ninth with a walk and a double respectively to give the Spartans a pair of runners in scoring position, but a Grant Jarman groundout RBI would be the first and last run of the Spartans' attempted comeback, as the Bears took game one of the series 7-4.

>>> Rosier, Madole and Hardison batted one through three in the Spartan lineup, accounting for four of their team's eight knocks and three of their four RBI
>>> Koehn's quality start was his fifth of the year. His performance on Saturday was the third start he's had without surrendering a walk

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