MACON, Ga. – Despite a late inning rally attempt, the Mercer baseball team came up short in a tough 15-8 loss to No. 3 Georgia Tech on Tuesday afternoon at Claude Smith Field.

The contest was the first of a home-and-home between the two schools over the next two days. Mercer will travel to Georgia Tech on Wednesday night to take on the Yellow Jackets at 6 p.m. at historic Russ Chandler Stadium.

"I am disappointed we didn't win, but at the same time I am happy with the way our guys battled towards the end," head coach Craig Gibson said. "We won the last four innings of that game and our guys showed a lot of heart to make things interesting after starting the game down 11-0."

Georgia Tech (17-2, 5-1 ACC) jumped on the Bears for 11 runs over the first five innings of play. After Georgia Tech scored a run in the first and a run in the third off Mercer starter Russell Moses, the flood gates opened in the fourth. The Jackets scored seven runs in the frame, highlighted by a two-run home run by junior Thomas Nichols and a three-run home run by sophomore Matt Skole to make the score 9-0.

Mercer (14-8, 2-1 A-Sun) did not give in, however, finally breaking through off Tech starter Mark Pope in the fifth inning. The Bears scored five runs in the frame thanks to a two-RBI single by senior Nick DiMauro and a towering three-run home run by sophomore Jacob Tanis, cutting the Yellow Jackets lead down to 11-5.

After Georgia Tech scored four more runs off the Bears bullpen, making the score 15-6, Mercer attempted to make one final push.

Freshman Travis Benn led off the eighth inning with a solo home run and Tanis followed a few batters later with an RBI single, making the score 15-8. There would be no magic after that, however, as Tech reliever Taylor Wood came on to recorded the final three outs in the ninth.

Moses ended up working 3.0 innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits to take the loss.

Tanis finished the game going 3-for-4 with a run scored and five RBI. Freshman Evan Boyd and junior John Moreland each had two hits apiece in the loss.

"I am excited about the way we finished tonight's game and I am looking forward to going up there and getting another crack at them tomorrow night," said Gibson.