The Florida A&M University (FAMU) Rattlers baseball team lost their second straight game to the Mercer Bears by a score of 7-2 Wednesday evening at Moore-Kittles Field.
The loss put the Rattlers record at 1-2, while the Bears remained undefeated (5-0) on the season after finishing a two-game series in Tallahassee.
Mercer struck first in this game by putting one run on the board in the top of the second inning. The Rattlers quickly answered back with a run of their own in the bottom of the second.
This game was tightly contested heading into the fifth inning as the teams were tied at a 1-1 score. However, the Bears would break the tie with two runs on three hits to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the game.
“We needed to come into this game and play confidently,”said junior outfielder Seyjuan Lawrence who had two hits and one RBI against Mercer. “At the end of the day we just need to play better ball.”
The Bears would go on to add another run at the top of the seventh inning on a single home run that extended Mercer’s lead to 4-1. FAMU cut into the lead by scoring one run at the bottom of the seventh putting the score at 4-2 and leaving the Rattlers with hope for a comeback.
However, the Bears shut the door on any comeback attempt by scoring three runs in the final inning to seal the win.
Junior Outfield LJ Bryant had two hits and felt the team played well despite the loss.
“We just need to keep a level head about what’s going on,” Bryant said. “We have everything we need to win games, we have to put it all together and bring it to the table.”
The Rattlers brought their bats in a losing effort registering eight hits in the game and leaving five runners on base.
However, the two errors proved to be costly for the team. Errors have plagued the Rattlers early this season in each of their three games this season they’ve recorded at least two errors.
Assistant Head Coach Bryan Hunter feels the team still has a lot to improve on this early in the season.
“We will need to get improve on the pitching and defensive sides of the ball the most.” Hunter said. “We gifted them a lot of hits and points with our errors.”
The Rattlers started their three game home-stand with a victory over the University of South Florida and although they didn’t beat Mercer, this opening week has helped prepare the team for another MEAC Championship run this season.
“This week was good for our guys to come in and see that they can compete against bigger schools.” Henry said. “We’re walking away from these games knowing that we’re good enough to play with the big boys.”
The next time the Rattlers baseball team will be in action is next Tuesday as they head South to Gainesville to take on the University of Florida with the first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.