GREENVILLE, S.C. (Interstat) — Trip Brown pitched six shutout innings without allowing a hit as the Citadel Bulldogs defeated the Mercer Bears 9-2 on Thursday night at Fluor Field at the West End. Brown struck out seven and walked none, earning the win. Citadel (33-24) broke the game open with five runs in the ninth inning, two of which came on Zach Hunt’s two-run homer. Michael Gibson went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and also pitched 2 1/3 innings of relief. Phillips Daniels contributed a two-run single. For Mercer (43-14), Garrett Lambert struck out 10 over 5 2/3 innings but allowed five hits and one earned run. Chris Katz and Titan Kamaka hit solo home runs in the bottom of the ninth. Sam Dansky had two hits for the Bulldogs. The Southern Conference matchup saw Citadel take a 1-0 lead in the third on Gibson’s RBI double and add three more unearned runs in the eighth and ninth before Hunt’s homer.