Softball Announces 2013 Schedule
11/30/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears softball program has quickly turned the page to its 2013 spring championship season by announcing its full schedule for the upcoming year on Friday.
After a 24-28 overall record in 2012, Mercer head coach James DeFeo has worked extensively the past seventh months to erase the memories of last season and bolster his lineup for 2013. Highlighting this year's schedule is a healthy portion of home games, which is a welcomed sight for a team that spent more than half of the year on the road last year.
The Bears played the role of road warriors for a majority of the season last year playing just 15 home games of the 52-game schedule. This year, DeFeo has structured his schedule to favor more home games including the addition of two home non-conference tournaments early in the year.
"We are really excited to open up this season at Sikes Field," DeFeo said. "Our fans will be happy to know that they will have many opportunities to catch the Bears in action at home this season."
The Bears host the inaugural Mercer Invitational on the season's opening weekend brining in IUPUI, and Alabama State for a three-team round robin on February 8-10. Mercer faces each team twice over the weekend before hosting in-state foe, Savannah State for a doubleheader on February 13.
"In hosting two tournaments, the Mercer Invitational and the Mercer Bears Classic, we are bringing in some quality teams from all over the country," DeFeo said.
Mercer heads out on the road over the following two weeks and will play in two tournaments, first at the Kennesaw State Tournament (Feb. 16-17) and secondly at a tournament hosted by Florida International (Feb. 22-24). A home date with Georgia State on February 27 closes out the season's first month.
The Bears' second home tournament, aptly named the Mercer Bear Classic, will be played from March 1-3 and showcases Central Arkansas, Atlantic Sun foe Northern Kentucky, and Tennessee-Chattanooga. The four teams will play a pair of games both Friday and Saturday with Sunday representing championship play to crown a tournament winner.
"This year's team will also face stiff competition as we travel down to Miami for a tournament at Florida International," DeFeo said. "These early tournaments will be good preparation for our rigorous Atlantic Sun conference schedule."
From there Mercer heads to SEC foe Georgia for a single game in Athens on March 6 before opening up Atlantic Sun Conference play the following weekend.
There has been a slight tweak to how the A-Sun will play its conference series this season. In previous years teams would meet head-to-head for a two-game series with a larger non-conference slate. However this season, as decided upon by the league's coaches, all A-Sun teams will face each other three times over the course of the year and will crown a series winner. The added conference games also make for a smaller non-conference portion of the schedule.
The Bears begin conference play at home this season as DeFeo's crew welcomes in East Tennessee State to Sikes field on March 9-10. The Bears and Lady Bucs play a double header on Saturday with the series finale on Sunday.
The two-day three-game series will be the model for most A-Sun games this season, with the exception being the Kennesaw St. rivalry. The Bears and Owls will play a home and away matchup with the Bears first traveling to KSU on March 13 for a doubleheader and Kennesaw returning to Sikes Field on March 20 to close out the series.
A-Sun home contest for the Bears include Jacksonville (March 29-30), Florida Gulf Coast (April 6-7), and Lipscomb (April 20-21). Mercer's A-Sun road trips include visits to Northern Kentucky (March 16-17), Stetson (March 23-24), North Florida (April 13-14), and at USC Upstate (April 27-28) for the regular season finale.
