Mercer University
Ga. Southern
Bears Skid Continues at Georgia Southern
4/3/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer softball team moved its current losing streak to five games on Wednesday afternoon losing both games of its non-conference doubleheader to Georgia Southern, 4-0 and 7-6.
The Bears took a 6-5 lead into the 10th inning of game two, but couldn't hang on as the Eagles posted a pair of runs in their half of the inning to secure the win and complete the sweep. The Bears were shutout for the third time in the last four games in a 4-0 loss in game one. Mercer moves back to the .500 mark at 21-21 on the year with the losses while Georgia Southern improves to 18-20.
Junior McKenzie Woody did reach a personal milestone on the day, recording two hits to become just the third player in Mercer history to reach 200 hits for her career.
GAME ONE:
The first inning has been a good barometer for how the Mercer softball team will fair in most games this season. Through 42 games the Bears have been outscored 43-30 in the first inning and are just 8-18 when the opposing team scores first.
That trend continued in game one as the Eagles were able to put up four runs in the bottom of the first. Mercer's Julia Rice picked up the start in the first game, but quickly put herself in a jam by giving up a pair of singles and issuing two walks to the first four batters.
The second of the two singles brought home a pair of runs for Georgia Southern to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. A third single of the inning and a wild pitch brought home the other two GSU runs to extend the lead to 4-0 after one.
Things would settle down after the first inning as the teams combined for three hits and zero runs over the next five innings. After giving up the four runs and three hits in the first, Rice allowed just one additional hit heading into the seventh.
However, Mercer could not break out of its recent offensive slump. The Bears recorded just three hits in the game and for the third time in the last four, were held scoreless. Through game one, Mercer had produced just 14 hits and two runs in the last five games.
GAME TWO:
The Bears showed a bit of resolve in game two, clawing back from a 5-0 deficit to send the game into extra innings. In the 10th, the Bears saw its short-lived lead disappear as Georgia Southern's second batter of the inning, Lexi Allen, roped a double to left center to score the game-winning runs, for the 7-6 win.
Mercer again fell behind first in the game when Georgia Southern scored five runs off three hits and a Mercer error in the bottom of the third. All five of the Eagles runs came with two outs in the inning.
Junior Krista Kennedy tried her best to light an offensive fire in the Bears in the top of the fifth. Through four, the Bears had just two hits when Kennedy connected with her team-leading 10th homerun of the season – a solo shot to center to lead off the fifth. The homerun cut the Eagles lead to 5-1.
The Kennedy spark turned into four more runs in the sixth as she pushed two more runs across off a single to right for her 45th and 46th RBI of the year. Kennedy's two-run single further cut into Southern's lead, 5-3.
Mercer's next batter, Molly Garmany brought Kennedy home with one swing of the bat as she too went deep with a two-run blast to right to tie the game at five.
Senior Kerri Nidiffer who, outside of allowing the five runs in the third, held the Eagles scoreless over the next six innings and helped push the game into extras. The international tiebreaker came into effect in the 10th and contributed to the Bears taking the lead.
Senior Sarah Santana laced a single to score the go-ahead run in Randi Rea, but Mercer stranded one on base in the 10th and failed to plate any additional insurance runs. The Eagles needed just two batters in their half of the inning to steal the win.
After Nidiffer hit GSU's Andrea Tarashuk, the Eagles had runners on second and first. Allen's double to the gap in left center created enough space for Tarashuk to score from first for the game-winning run.
The Bears will have a short turnaround before facing off against one of the top teams in the A-Sun this weekend. Mercer and Florida Gulf Coast begin a three-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday, currently scheduled for 1 p.m.
