Softball Ready for Round One of Atlantic Sun Tournament
5/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The regular season schedule is fulfilled, the post-season superlatives are settled, and now the Mercer University softball team has to take care of business at the Atlantic Sun Tournament at Draper Diamond at Smith Field on Wednesday against Kennesaw State.
The #4 seed Mercer (34-17, 16-8 A-Sun) will take on the #5 seed Kennesaw State (24-27, 13-12 A-Sun) at 6:30 p.m. eastern time in Nashville for round one on the conference tournament. The Bears were 2-1 in their season series with the Owls as each game was decided by one run.
Mercer totaled 25 hits in the three-game series against Kennesaw State and drew 12 walks leading to the 15 runs scored. Mercer also pitched fairly well, striking out more batters (16) than runs allowed (14). Freshman Kirsten Stevens even pitched a nine-inning, three-hit shutout against them in game one.
The trouble for Mercer in the third game, the one they lost, was stranding runners. 11 runners were left on-base at the end of the game, and 26, total, were left for the series. The Bears also deviated from the norm a bit as the lead-off hitter in each inning only bat .261 (6-for-23) compared to a .459 clip for the year.
The lead-off hitter will need to get on and the pitching will need to be top-class again to advance to the next round with a win. Emotions will be running high for the Bears as they face-off against their in-state rivals for, potentially, the last time in an Atlantic Sun contest.
The Owls just made it to the finish line as they dropped six of their last eight games of the season. Despite that, they put three players on the A-Sun Second Team All-Conference and one on the All-Freshman team. Kara Chambers was also named Defensive Player of the Year.
Game time is slated for 6:30 p.m. eastern time with the winner advancing to face top seeded USC Upstate on Thursday. The loser will play the loser of No. 3 Stetson and No. 6 FGCU.
