The Notre Dame baseball team suffered its first loss of the 2013 season with a 5-4 loss to Mercer in its final game of the Snowbird Classic in Sarasota, Fla.
Irish first baseman Trey Mancini gave the Irish the early lead with a 1st inning RBI single, but Mercer (3-0) took a 3-1 lead with three runs in the top of the 3rd against Irish starting pitcher David Hearne (0-1). Bears left fielder Nate Moorehouse led off the inning with a home run.
Manini tripled home Charlie Markson in the third inning to make it 3-2 Mercer. The Bears added their final two runs in the top of the 6th. The Irish got their final two runs in the bottom of the 7th thanks to an RBI double by Eric Jagielo and a sac fly from Mancini, who finished his day with two hits and three RBIs.
The game ended with a long drive to the left field warning track by Mancini, but a heavy wind knocked it down as Moorehouse made the catch to close the weekend. Irish leadoff man Frank DeSico, who drove-in the game winning run with two outs in the bottom of the 10th in Saturday's season opener, finished the weekend with seven hits in three games.
Mercer, a team that won 38 games last season, was 3-0 at the Snowbird. In addition to their win over the Irish, the Bears also beat Ohio State and St. John's on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Mercer and Florida Gulf Coast, one of the two teams Notre Dame beat on Saturday in Sarasota, are the preseason co-favorites to win the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2013.
Notre Dame (2-1) is back in action next weekend with a weekend series in New Orleans against Tulane. The Green Wave won two of three games over the weekend at the Bobcat Invitational, which was hosted by Texas State University. Tulane beat Sam Houston State and Missouri State and lost to the host Bobcats.
