Bears Take A-Sun Split Against Jacksonville

Friday, April 6

4 pm

Mercer University

Jacksonville

4/6/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball

BOX SCORE - Game One: Mercer - 6, Jacksonville - 2

BOX SCORE - Game Two: Mercer - 0, Jacksonville - 3

MACON, Ga.—A confident and hot Mercer softball team were primed to take a doubleheader sweep over Jacksonville after taking a decisive 6-2 victory in game one on Friday night at Sikes field, but the Dolphins had other plans and stole a 3-0 shutout in game two.

With the split the Bears (23-15, 4-2 A-Sun) still find themselves among the top teams currently in the A-Sun while Jacksonville (21-17, 3-3 A-Sun) maintained its conference record at .500.

Mercer's senior pitcher Kassie Bailey took the complete game victory in game moving her overall record to 8-5 while freshman Jessica Holsinger fell to 11-3, recording the loss in game two.

GAME ONE

Mercer scored six unanswered runs in the final four-and-a-half innings to claim the 6-2 victory over defending league champion Jacksonville in game one.

The Bears found themselves trailing early in the contest, as Jacksonville left fielder Jacey Warner got all of a 2-1 Kassie Bailey offering and deposited the ball over the left center field fence to give the Dolphins a 2-0 lead in the top of the second.

The Dolphins' lead, however, would be short-lived as the Bears' bats came alive in the bottom half of the inning.

Senior Tiffany Phillips led off the inning with a walk and after Sarah Stukes moved Phillips into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt down the first base line, Caitlin Peisel came to the plate. Peisel then blooped a single to left center to bring in Phillips and get the Bears within a run, at 2-1.

The Bears would establish a 2012 first when Krista Kennedy stepped to the plate after Peisel's RBI single. Kennedy got hold of a 1-0 fastball from 2011 A-Sun Pitcher of the Year Sarah Sigrest and belted it over the left center field fence to give the Mercer a 3-2 lead—one it would not relinquish the rest of the way. Kennedy's homer marked the first long ball hit by the Bears inside the friendly confines of Sikes Field this season.

The Bears had their bats silenced for the most part by Sigrest over the next two half innings, but added to their lead in the bottom half of the fifth. McKenzie Woody, who leads the A-Sun with an on-base percentage of .515, led off the inning by reaching on a throwing error by Dolphin shortstop Ronnie Gajownik and advanced to second on the throw.

Kristin Marko laid down a well-placed sacrifice bunt to put Woody at third. Kassie Bailey then tallied her team-leading 27^th RBI of the 2012 campaign, scoring Woody off a ground out to third base and move the Bears' lead to 4-2.

Mercer added a two more runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning, starting with a Tiffany Phillips single to left center.

Stukes notched another single up the middle on the next at bat before Peisel booked her third hit and second RBI of the afternoon, bringing home Phillips to give the Bears a 5-2 advantage. Peisel's two RBI were her fifth and sixth, respectively, of the season.

Peisel eventually registered the Bears' final run of the afternoon, as she came around to score on Woody's RBI single to short, which set the final tally, 6-2. The RBI single marked Woody's 13^th of the season.

Bailey recorded the win inside the circle for the Bears, as she went seven strong innings, scattering eight hits, giving up a pair of runs while recording a couple of strikeouts.

GAME TWO

Mercer again outhit the Dolphins in game two, but unlike game one was unable to capitalize on seven hits recorded in the game. The lack of clutch hitting this time couldn't make up for an early deficit as for the second time on the night, the Orange and Black fell behind early thanks in part to Jacksonville home run.

JU's Amanda Schmidt cleared the bases in the top of the third when she sailed her fifth home run of the season over the left center wall for what turned out to be the only runs scored in the game.

The early Jacksonville scoring quickly became an afterthought as the story of game two turned out to be a masterful pitching effort by starting pitcher Brittany Eppley. Eppley recorded just her fifth win of the season, but looked dominate on Friday, turning aside 13 Bears' batters in the complete game shutout.

The Bears had several scoring chances in the game, starting in the second when sophomore Randi Rea laced a single to left that would have scored Sarah Santana on the play had it not been for an accurate throw to the plate to get Santana who was motoring home from second.

Eppley, seemed to settle in the rest of the way, holding Mercer in check through five innings as she allowed just three hits. The Bears would not go away easily however, as a late-inning comeback fell just short.

In the bottom of the seventh, Mercer made things interesting when Caitlyn Peisel recorded her fourth hit of the day, to lead off the inning with a single. Peisel moved into scoring position on the next play as Kassie Bailey moved her to second on groundout to the pitcher.

Randi Rea came up with a double to right center that would have scored Peisel, had it not been for a solid defensive play by Jacksonville to get the ball back to the infield. With one out, the Bears had the game-tying run at the plate with runners on second and third.

However, Eppely was able to respond by striking out McKenzie Woody and then forced Kristin Marko to ground out to second to end the game and the Bears' hope of a sweep.

Mercer still has a chance to keep up with the top teams in the league as North Florida comes to town for a doubleheader tomorrow starting at 2 p.m. UNF was swept in its Friday doubleheader at Kennesaw St. and comes to Sikes Field with a 22-17 overall record and is 4-4 in conference play.