Mercer Hosts North Florida In Season Finale
5/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears softball team will play its regular season finale at home this Friday as North Florida will travel to Sikes Field to help close out the 2010 season.
With just five Atlantic Sun Conference wins, the Bears (23-30, 5-13 A-Sun) come into the series finale outside the top six teams advancing to the conference tournament. The Bears have lost 10 of their last 12 and it is the first time since 2005 that Mercer will not qualify for the conference tournament.
The A-Sun is in a log jam with five teams vying for the final four spots behind Lipscomb and Stetson, both of which have already clinched tourney bids. North Florida comes in as one of the five teams fighting for a spot and tournament seeding coming into the season's final weekend.
The Last Time Out
The Bears (23-20, 5-13 A-Sun) cruised to a 1-0 win in game one against Jacksonville last Friday on the strength of junior pitcher Jenni Holtz's one hit, seven strikeout performance, yet fell short in game two, losing 5-0. Sophomore Sara Stukes' seventh homerun of the season came in the bottom of the fifth and proved to be the winning run in game one.
Scouting The Opposition
North Florida (23-27, 9-7 A-Sun) has lost their last five including three late-season non-conference games against Bethune Cookman and a doubleheader against the University of Florida on Wednesday.
The Ospreys are last in the A-Sun in batting with a .213 average and have scored just 139 total runs in 23 wins this season. Of the Ospreys with at least 45 plate appearances, only five players are batting over .200. No matter their batting woes, North Florida has been able to position themselves favorably sitting in the fourth overall spot with a 9-7 conference record.
Leading the Ospreys at the plate is Caroline Torre. Torre is batting a team-leading .306 with 25 RBI and a .408 slugging percentage. Pitcher Devyn Findley boasts a 17-15 overall record in 45 appearances this season and has been producing at the plate as well. Findley is second on the team in RBI with 15 and homeruns with three.
Game Notes
-The Bears come into Friday's matchup with UNF trailing in the overall series 5-3. The Bears split the season series last year with the Ospreys in Jacksonville, Fla.
-Senior Holly Oglesbee was named to the CoSIDA ESPN First Team Academic All-District Team on Thursday. Oglesbee is majoring in Business.
-Friday's games will also coincide with the Bears Strikeout for Cancer benefit. The Bears are helping raise money for Breast Cancer awareness by holding raffles for Mercer Softball gear at tomorrow's game. Fans are encouraged to wear PINK to the games.
