Philadelphia, PA – Jonathan Davis scored on a throwing error in the top of the 11th inning as the Central Arkansas Bears eliminated the Mercer Bears from the Starkville Regional with a 6-5 win in extra innings.
Davis reached on a fielding error to begin the 11th inning and then stole second. Davis then advanced to third on a ground out and scored later in the inning on a throwing error. Davis was 2-for-4 in the game for Central Arkansas (40-21) which had all but one player get a hit in the game.
Dimitri Kourtis pitched a strong 5 2/3 innings in relief for Mercer (43-18) but the one unearned run he allowed sealed the Bears' fate. Mercer was eliminated from the double-elimination regional with the loss.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs posted a 6-2 victory over the South Alabama Jaguars in the winner's bracket matchup to take their place in the regional final.
Brett Pirtle went 2-for-5 with two RBI and Alex Detz was 3-for-4 with a double for Mississippi State (45-17). Ross Mitchell tossed 5 1/3 shutout innings and struck out five batters to capture the win.
Matt Bell took the loss for South Alabama (43-19) as he allowed four earned runs, five total, in 6 1/3 innings of work. Dustin Dalken went 2-for-4 as the only player with a multi-hit game for the Jaguars.
The other slot in Sunday's regional final will be decided by an elimination game between South Alabama and Central Arkansas earlier in the day.
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