Bears Release 2012 Softball Schedule
11/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
CLICK HERE for full 2012 Schedule
MACON, Ga. – New Mercer softball Head Coach James DeFeo announced Tuesday the release of his first regular season schedule after taking over the Bears' program back on Sept. 7.
DeFeo takes over a program that went 32-24 a year ago, including a nice run recording two wins in the A-Sun Tournament. He also inherits the loss of six seniors from last year's team, yet has a solid core of 16 returners to build around in his first season in Macon.
The Bears begin their 54-game slate on February 11 against Austin Peay, playing in the Kennesaw St. Classic. In fact, the first 20 games of the Bears' season are either at tournaments or on the road. Mercer, in all, will be a part of five multi-day tournaments during the 2012 season.
Mercer plays in tournaments at Kennesaw St. (Feb. 11-12), Florida St. (Feb. 17-19), Samford (Feb. 25-27), Georgia (March 2-4), and Tennessee St. (March 17-18).
"The 2012 schedule will be challenging for sure," DeFeo said. "We will challenge our skill level right away and hopefully be battle tested and ready to go for the start of conference play."
The 2012 schedule also features games against opponents in 15 conferences, including top programs in the SEC, ACC, Big 10, Big East and SoCon. The Bears face five teams in 2012 that played in the NCAA Tournament last year including: North Dakota St.(Feb. 17), Florida St.(Feb. 19), Georgia(March 4), Jacksonville(April 6) and Georgia St.(April 18).
The Bears then open up the A-Sun portion of the schedule on the road at USC Upstate on March, 30. Last time out, Mercer knocked the Spartans out of the 2011 A-Sun tournament with a 3-2 victory.
The remainder of the Bears A-Sun road contests are at ETSU (March 31), at Stetson (April 12), and at FGCU (April 14).
This season, Mercer welcomes reigning A-Sun Champs Jacksonville to Sikes Field on Friday, April 6 and then will play North Florida on Saturday afternoon. The Bears close out their regular season home series hosting Belmont and Lipscomb on April and 20th and 21st respectively.
A week later, the regular season wraps up as the Bears head to in-state rival Kennesaw St. on April 28 for two-game set. The Bears took the annual rivalry series last season against the Owls at home to secure a spot in the A-Sun Tournament.
The A-Sun Tournament again features the conference's top six teams and is hosted by USC Upstate on May 9-12 in Spartanburg, S.C.
