Softball Hosts Belmont and Lipscomb In A-Sun Matchups This Weekend
4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer softball team is looking to right the ship as it has dropped five consecutive contests entering their Friday and Saturday doubleheaders with Belmont and Lipscomb.
Mercer will recognize the contributions of six seniors prior to the Lipscomb game on Saturday afternoon. Junior softball teams from the area are encouraged to come out and support the Bears, and teams will be admitted at $1 per person, so remember to wear your team jersey.
Having lost seven of nine games, the Bears round out home competition with the weekend matchups against the visiting Bruins and Bison of Nashville, Tenn.
LAST TIME OUT
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Bears continued their skid with two run-rule defeats at the hands of the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. Mercer drops to 24-20 on the year. The Bears fall to 5-7 in conference play with their fourth consecutive defeat against A-Sun foes. FGCU improves to 27-21 overall and 7-3 in conference play.
With game one knotted 1-1 after three, the Eagles would pile on eight runs in two frames to solidify the 9-1 drubbing. FCGU's Mariah Fernandez led the charge with a three-run home run off of Kassie Bailey in the fourth to put the Florida school ahead for good.
Chelsea Zgrabik went 2-for-3 with three RBI to pace the Eagles offense. Meanwhile, pitcher Shelby Morgan improved to 16-5 from the circle. She surrendered just five hits and one run in the complete-game effort.
Game two proved much of the same as the Eagles exploded for six runs in the third and four in the fifth to take the eight-run victory. Up 2-0 in the bottom of the third, the Bears were once again plagued by big innings as Chelsea Zgrabik's three-run home run deflated the Bears pitching staff. With an offense struggling to score runs, the 6-2 deficit proved insurmountable.
The Eagles used a balanced offense of seven hits from seven different players to plate home 10 runs. In the game, Bailey and Nidiffer were tagged for five runs apiece. Game one saw the duo surrender four runs individually.
SCOUTING THE BRUINS – Friday 4 and 6 p.m. (Sikes Field)
Belmont is a club that has undergone struggles similar to those of the Bears as of late, as the Bruins have had trouble generating runs. Belmont (8-29, 3-7 A-Sun) is currently riding a five-game losing streak similar to that of Mercer. The Bruins have struggled on both sides of the ball as they been outscored 34 to seven in the five-game stretch.
To add to their current struggles in the win column, the Bruins have been held scoreless in 21 straight innings dating back to the fifth inning of a 12-6 loss at FGCU on April 7.
Belmont has not played well on the road, as the Bruins have posted a meager 1-8 mark away from the friendly confines of the Music City this season.
Entering Friday's matchup, the Bruins boast just .210 team batting average with only five players hitting north of .200. That mark places them in the cellar of the Atlantic Sun conference behind the .254 average of FGCU. Belmont is led offensively by Ashley Byers, who has a .344 batting average in 37 games this season.
In the circle, the Bruins look to improve on a team ERA of 6.45. That too is an Atlantic Sun low. The conference average is 2.91. The Bears swept the season series a year ago with 1-0 and 5-3 wins over the Bruins on April 21, 2011.
