Mercer jumped out to an early lead, scoring four runs in the opening inning and holding the advantage through the early innings.

Georgia State responded in the third inning. Carter Bailey reached on a walk and later scored on a sacrifice fly from John Beverley to put the Panthers on the board.

The Panthers took the lead in the fourth inning with a four-run rally. Nick Garagozzo tripled down the right-field line to drive in a run before Adam Haber delivered a two-run double to left. Beverley followed with an RBI bunt single to give Georgia State a 5-4 lead.

Mercer answered with a decisive fifth inning, scoring eight runs to regain control of the game. The Bears added four more runs across the sixth inning to extend the lead.

Georgia State added a run in the seventh when Beverley doubled and later scored on an RBI single by Hunter Carlson.

Beverley led the Panthers offensively with two hits and two RBIs, while Haber added two RBIs and Garagozzo recorded a triple and an RBI. Wills Maginnis also added a hit for Georgia State.

Joshua Evans started on the mound for the Panthers. Hunter Atkins followed with 2.1 scoreless innings in relief before William Petteys was charged with the loss.

Georgia State will open Sun Belt Conference play Friday at 6 p.m. against Marshall in Huntington, W.Va.