GREENVILLE, S.C.. -- Grant Papelian pitched seven innings of three-hit shutout baseball and Mercer grabbed an early lead on the way to an 11-1 victory over Furman in Southern Conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at Latham Stadium.

The victory was the seventh straight for Mercer (18-11, 5-0 SoCon), which will go for the series sweep against Furman (11-14, 1-4 SoCon) at 1:00 p.m. Sunday.

Papelian (3-1), a senior left-hander from Marietta, Ga., worked around a leadoff double in the first inning and only surrendered singles in the fourth and sixth innings in his seven innings of work before departing with an 8-0 lead.  He walked one and struck out four.

His teammates, meanwhile, battered Furman for 10 hits and 11 runs while also taking advantage of seven walks and three hit batsmen.

Jackson Ware headlined the Bears' attack with a 2-for-4 performance that included a two-run home run in the second inning that got Mercer on the board.

Trey Tuitt went 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, and Devin Bonin closed out Mercer's big offensive day with a three-run home run in the eighth inning, his fifth route job of the season.

Nate Moorhouse also drove in a pair of runs, the first coming on an RBI double in the second inning that capped a four-run frame for the Bears.

Truitt's two-out RBI single in the third inning scored Ware to make it 5-0, and Mercer upped it to 6-0 with a run in sixth after Truitt led off with a double and later scored on a Moorhouse sacrifice fly.

Mercer registered its first six runs against Paladin starter and losing pitcher Will Gaddis (2-2), who was touched up for nine hits over six innings.  He walked two and fanned two.

Jake Jones had two of Furman's six hits.  Three of the Paladins' hits came in the ninth inning when Furman avoided the shutout on a Matt Towarnicky sacrifice fly that plated Zack Greenwell.