Mercer University
Eastern Ky.
Bears Drop Two More at KSU Classic
2/17/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer softball team concluded tournament play at the Kennesaw State Classic on Sunday adding to a four-game skid by losing to both Eastern Kentucky and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at the Twin Creek Softball Complex in Woodstock.
The Bears moved to 5-5 on the year after a pair of one-run ball games on Sunday. Mercer scored seven runs off homeruns against SIUE, but couldn't hold on to a late-inning lead and eventually fell 8-7 in game one.
For the second-straight day Mercer would muster just one run in game two off a solo homerun by junior Krista Kennedy. The Bears committed five errors and couldn't make up for it as EKU held onto a 2-1 victory. Mercer was scheduled to play EKU this morning, but the game had to be rescheduled to the afternoon because of poor field conditions.
Senior pitcher Kerri Nidiffer again made strong appearances in both games, but she accumulated two more losses to her credit. Nidiffer gave up just four earned runs in 13 innings of work and threw her second complete game in as many days in the 8-7 loss against SIUE.
GAME ONE:
Mercer had originally been scheduled to play against Eastern Kentucky at 10:30 a.m. but a burst pipeline overnight caused an unplayable surface on the No. 3 field at the Twin Creeks Softball Complex. Tournament officials postponed the game until 3:30 p.m. and Mercer was forced to wait until their regularly scheduled game at 1 p.m. against SIUE
Coming into the day Mercer had been outscored 12-4 by their opponents in the first inning. Against SIUE, that trend continued as the Bears allowed four runs to come across in the first. Junior Julia Rice faced just four batters in receiving the start before being replaced by Nidiffer.
Nidiffer quickly settled things down allowing just one more run over the next three innings. In the meantime the Bears did their best to get back into the game. In the bottom of the third senior Sarah Santana hit her first homerun of the season, a two-run shot to center that cut the SIUE to 5-2.
In the fourth, the Mercer bats stayed hot as junior Krista Kennedy led off the inning with the first of her two homeruns on the day – a solo home shot to left center. Later in the inning and still trailing 5-3, freshman Katlyn Haney hit the first homerun of her MU career.
The left-handed Haney turned on a pitch with the bases loaded and single-handedly put the Bears on top, 7-5 with a grand slam to right.
The Bears worked with the two-run lead into the top of the fifth before SIUE would respond. Nidiffer looked strong in retiring the Cougars first two batters of inning. However, Nidiffer hit the next SIUE batter and then allowed back-to-back hits which led to the game-tying runs.
An error by Haney at second scored an SIUE runner from third for the eventual game-winner. Mercer had three more chances at the plate but didn't truly threaten recording just two more hits in the final three innings.
GAME TWO:
For the seventh time in 10 games this season the Bears fell behind first against EKU. A scoreless game heading into the third, saw the Colonels take the lead with an RBI double off Nidiffer who had received the start for MU.
The Bears recorded just six hits in the game against the Colonels with junior McKenzie Woody equaling half of those. One of the other three hits in the game came off the bat of Krista Kennedy. In the fourth, Kennedy tied the game hitting a solo shot to left for her second of the day.
Mercer would go on to leave seven runners on in the game and committed a season-high five errors two of which occurred in the bottom of the fourth when EKU retook the lead.
Nidiffer limited EKU to just six hits of their own while striking out two batters giving up one earned in fourth complete game of the season.
The Bears return to action this week with a mid-week matchup against in-state rival Georgia Tech on Wednesday. Mercer then heads south for more tournament play at Florida International next Friday and Saturday.
