Mercer University
Central Ark.
Kennedy Hits Three Homeruns as Bears Go 1-1 On Day
3/1/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
MACON, Ga. – Mercer could have easily taken two wins on the opening day of the Mercer Bears Classic, but as it is the Bears went 1-1 falling first to Central Arkansas 8-5 in 10 innings and then picking up a nice 13-5 win over Northern Kentucky in game two.
Four games in total were played on Friday with Central Arkansas winning both of its games while Mercer and Chattanooga split and Northern Kentucky went 0-2.
Mercer (10-10) posted back-to-back 12 hit performances on Friday led by junior Krista Kennedy who went 4-for-5 with three homeruns and five RBI on the day.
Senior Kerri Nidiffer threw 4.1 scoreless innings in her appearance in game two which also saw junior Krista Kennedy go deep on two separate occasions in the Bears' 13-5 run-rule triumph over Northern Kentucky.
GAME ONE:
Junior Kristen Bretscher, who has worked her way into a more prominent role in the Bears' lineup, picked up the start inside the circle in game one. After throwing allowing one run to come across in her first three innings of work, the junior from California opened up the fourth by allowing a solo homerun and double to UCA batters.
Central Arkansas was limited to just two more runs in their half of the fourth as junior Julia Rice finished out the inning, leaving the Bears trialing 3-0. Mercer would get one back in the bottom half of the inning however as Bretscher knocked in her first-career RBI driving in Kennedy from third.
Mercer tied things up in the fifth as both junior McKenzie Woody and freshman Kaytlin Haney each scored off a two-out double down the left field line by sophomore Rachel Hugghins. The two-run RBI gave Hugghins double-digit RBI this season with 10.
Central Arkansas struck again in the top of the seventh to take a 4-3 lead off a solo homerun by Ashley Boswell. Mercer however would respond again and matched Boswell's homerun with one its own as Krista Kennedy connected with the first of three for her on the day.
Kennedy's fourth of the season at the time the ballgame and sent the game into extra-innings.
Mercer and Central Arkansas went scoreless over the first two innings of extras and eventually it was the international tie breaker that sealed UCA's win. The UCA Bears scored four in their top of the 10th off three hits and a Mercer error.
GAME TWO:
Four different Mercer players posted multiple hits in the Bears first meeting against new Atlantic Sun member Northern Kentucky in game two. Although the game did not count against either team's conference record, the two did get a good feel for each other as five pitchers were used between the two teams.
It was the Bears that jumped out to the early lead as Woody came across in the first off an error by NKU's Michelle Carson. However, the Norse responded in a big way in the next inning, scoring all five of their runs in the inning. With the bases loaded, NKU's Emily Schwaeble took a Kristen Bretscher offering deep to left center for a grand slam.
The homerun put the Bears behind 5-1, but Mercer showed some determination in scoring 12 unanswered after that. To go along with Kennedy's two homeruns in the game, senior Sarah Santana finished going 2-for-4 with a game-high five RBI. The five RBI for Santana gave her 16 for the season, yet still leave her four behind Kennedy with the team-lead of 20.
The Bears return to action tomorrow with currently one scheduled game against Chattanooga at 12:15 and another to be played at either the 2:30 p.m. time slot or the 4:45. Central Arkansas and Northern Kentucky kick off day two tomorrow at 10 a.m.
