Mercer University
Belmont
Bears Sweep Belmont; Shift Focus to Lipscomb
4/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Mercer softball team scored on a passed ball and relied on clutch pitching from senior Kari Chambers to secure a sweep of Belmont, 1-0 and 5-3, in Atlantic Sun play on Thursday night.
With the win, Mercer (26-20, 8-8 A-Sun) is now tied with in-state rival Kennesaw St. at 8-8 in conference play. The two teams currently round out the top six teams that would qualify for the conference tournament if the season ended today. Kennesaw St. lost both games of its doubleheader against Lipscomb on Thursday night.
Mercer was caught up in a pitcher's duel in game one, as the two teams combined for just eight hits in the game. Kari Chambers went the distance for the Bears in game one and threw the fifth complete game shutout in her career-high 13th victory of the season.
It wasn't until the Bears final at bat that a run crossed the plate as junior Tiffany Phillips scored on a Belmont passed ball in the top of the seventh. Phillips found herself in the game-winning situation after starting off the inning with a single to left field. She then advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jenny Goodman and a ground out by Kristin Marko.
Then with two out in the inning, Phillips was quick to react and scored the game-winning run as the ball squirted away from Belmont catcher Hannah Irwin to make it 1-0.
Chambers was then able to close out the bottom of the seventh and seal the win. She threw 10.2 innings, gave up six hits and struck out 10 batters in her two appearances on Tuesday. It was also the first game this season in which the Bears have scored two or less runs and pulled out the victory (1-15).
In game two, the offense came around and jumped out to a 4-0 lead by the end of the third inning. Marko and Goodman both had an RBI in the second and then freshman McKenzie Woody and senior Amanda Santa Maria scored on an error and sacrifice fly, respectively in the third.
Santa Maria led the Bears at the plate on Tuesday going 3-for-4 and an RBI in the two games.
Junior Kassie Bailey received the start in game two and went three solid innings before giving up two runs in the fourth and was then relieved by Chambers – who finished out the game. Chambers allowed one more run in the fourth as Belmont closed the gap to 4-3.
Mercer put an insurance run across in the fifth as Woody scored on another throwing error by Belmont. Chambers gave up just one more hit in the game and qualified for her team-leading 14th win of the season in game two, 5-3.
The Bears face off tomorrow at Lipscomb at 5 p.m. before heading back to Georgia for a mid-week matchup against Georgia Tech on Wednesday.
