Softball Finishes Regular Season Slate at Florida Gulf Coast
4/24/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Just three games remain on the regular season schedule for the Mercer University softball team, and they will play those games at Florida Gulf Coast University at the FGCU Softball Complex this Saturday and Sunday.
Mercer (31-17, 13-8 Atlantic Sun) clinched its spot in the six-team Atlantic Sun Conference tournament last weekend and will look to solidify a good seed at Florida Gulf Coast (28-21-1, 11-10 A-Sun) this weekend. FGCU currently sits right below the Bears in the standings but in order for them to overtake the Bears they would have to sweep them.
Mercer got back on track last weekend, despite the rain. Northern Kentucky came to Macon and was dispatched in two games to give the Bears a boost after a tough six-game losing streak. With the result in DeLand, Fla. between Lipscomb and Stetson, Mercer is just two wins behind the Lady Bisons for third place.
Leading the Bears to a good weekend, and playing in her final home games, senior McKenzie Woody went 4-for-5 in the two games against the Norse. Woody had two runs, two RBIs, and a steal all while raising her season average to .361. In her collegiate career, Woody has a .360 batting average against the Eagles with five runs scored.
Florida Gulf Coast has had a rocky season. After finishing third in the A-Sun last season and being picked to finish second this season, the Eagles have endured losing streaks of five and six games and a sub-.500 March to stay in conference tournament contention.
Voted the pre-season A-Sun player of the year, Chelsea Zgrabik has delivered on expectations. This season she has a .357 batting average with 13 home runs and 40 RBIs. She is joined by teammates Kelsey Carpenter and Jessica Barnes as the Eagles top hitters. All three have averages over .350, on-base percentages over .430 and slugging percentages over .640.
The Eagles also have an ace who can out-pitch anyone. Shelby Morgan has a 10-5 record with a 2.04 ERA in 25 appearances. She's thrown five shutouts and has three saves with 45 strikeouts. She has one career start against the Bears and threw five innings of one-run ball.
The key for Mercer to do well in this series is their hitting. The bats have gone cold lately as they have hit just .257 in the last ten games. With home runs being a strength of the lineup throughout the season, they have only seen four hits leave the yard in the last ten games. Runs have dropped, as well, as they are only scoring 3.6 per game in the last ten after averaging around eight for most of the year.
The beginning of the end of the regular season will be a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 2:00 p.m. with the third and final game beginning at 12:00 p.m. Sunday. If you can't make the trek to Fort Myers, follow the Bears on Twitter for game updates and news @MercerUSoftball.
