Bears Continue Conference Play; Host Jacksonville and North Florida
4/5/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer softball team returns home this weekend for two pivotal Atlantic Sun Conference match-ups against the teams from the River City. The Bears welcome in Jacksonville for a pair of games on Friday afternoon before hosting North Florida for a Saturday doubleheader.
After capturing a 3-1 overall record to start conference play, the Bears (22-14, 3-1 A-Sun) can put themselves in a very good position heading into the final weeks of the regular season if they can perform and pick up wins over the next two days. Currently, the Bears are atop of the A-Sun standings and are winners of 10 of their last 11 games and will look to better their 4-2 home mark this weekend.
LAST TIME OUT
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Mercer softball team picked up a pair of crucial one-run victories in Saturday's Atlantic Sun doubleheader at East Tennessee State. The 4-3 and 3-2 wins move the Bears to 3-1 after the first weekend of conference play and has MU tied atop of the current A-Sun standings.
MU is now 7-3 in one-run games this season as ETSU falls to 0-4 in the A-Sun and 10-20 overall.
SCOUTING THE DOLPHINS – Friday 4 and 6 p.m. (Sikes Field)
Jacksonville split both series last weekend against Belmont and Lipscomb and is 2-2 to start conference play and is 20-16 overall. The Dolphins are led by last season's Pitcher of the Year Sarah Sigrest who is 13-7 on the year with a 2.00 ERA. Sigrest has thrown seven shutouts and is first in the A-Sun with 179 strikeouts.
Offensively, the Dolphins are the second best in the A-Sun with a .281 average as a team and sport five players batting .300 or a higher. Melissa Morales leads the team with a .365 average and 15 RBI. Sarah Simon has a plated the most runs with 26 RBI off a team-high six home runs.
The Bears lead the all-time series against the Dolphins 11-10 after dropping both games last year at Jacksonville (L, 7-0; L, 1-0 [9]).
SCOUTING THE OSPREYS – Saturday 2 and 4 p.m. (Sikes Field)
The Ospreys boast the reigning A-Sun Pitcher of the Week in freshman Kaylie Wallace. Wallace posted two wins in helping the Ospreys to a 3-1 week in A-Sun play last week. The Ospreys are 22-15 overall with a 4-2 conference mark and Wallace has been responsible for 12 of those victories. She carries a 1.19 ERA in 105.2 innings pitched and has three shutouts.
North Florida is led offensively by Mariah Reynolds whose 26 RBI is tied with three other players for fifth in the league. Reynolds is batting .318 with 34 total hits including a team-leading 4 home runs.
The Ospreys are 22-15 overall and split with the Bears last season in Jacksonville. Mercer took game one by a score of 9-3 before dropping game two in disappointing fashion as UNF scored three runs in the final two innings to take a 3-2 win. Mercer and North Florida have gone 6-6 over their first 12 meetings.
GAME NOTES
McKenzie Woody is still among the league's best in most statistical categories. Currently, Woody is first in hits (54), second in runs scored (36) second in stolen bases (22) and her .450 is 27 points higher than the next closest player for the lead in batting average.
Freshman pitcher Jessica Holsinger is eighth in the conference with a 1.98 ERA and she is one of five players to have reached double-digit wins so far this season.
