Mercer Advances to Third Round of SoCon Tournament with 2-0 Shutout of Samford
5/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Mercer sophomore Kirsten Stevens tossed her second straight shutout to help the Bears claim a 2-0 victory over the No. 2 seeded Samford Bulldogs and earn a spot in the Southern Conference Tournament winner's bracket semifinal against top-seeded Chattanooga.
Final – Mercer 2, Samford 0
Mercer moved to 36-20 on the season and will face No. 1 seed Chattanooga on Friday, May 8 at 10 a.m. EST. in the winner's bracket semifinal game.
Stevens improved to 25-8 on the year, after throwing seven scoreless innings and giving up just six hits. Samford pitcher Mollie Hanson fell to 19-11 with the loss after allowing two runs on six hits in six innings pitched.
Mercer's second game of the tournament started slow with both teams opening with a scoreless inning despite each recording a hit in the frame.
The Bears loaded the bases in the second on a Caroline Taylor single and back-to-back hit by pitches to put on Kaylynn Sloat and Quirisa Mauga. Taylor Miller took advantage of the situation with a two-run shot up the middle to score Taylor and Sloat and give the Bears the 2-0 lead.
Both teams added a hit in the third but the defenses for both sides refused to budge any further. Stevens would go on to pitch her first 1-2-3 inning of the game in the fourth with three straight ground outs. Mauga added a hit for Mercer in the fourth but a great play by the Bulldogs' right fielder, Caroline Wilder, cut the inning short.
Samford added two hits in the fifth on hard hit infield singles by Karsin Spinks and Abbie Miranda, before both advanced to second and third on Shelby Maze's ground to shortstop Emma Andrew. Stevens buckled down against Caitlyn Brice to record the third out of the inning and escape the scare.
Natalie Shiver had the only action in the fifth for the Bears, drawing the walk to be Mercer's only baserunner of the inning.
Samford's lead-off batter drew the walk in the sixth followed by a hit from Wilder to put runners on first and second. However, Stevens battled back, striking out three in a row to end the inning. Taylor drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the sixth, setting up a stand up double by Sloat to put runners on second and third with no outs. After back-to-back strikeouts by the Bears though, Miller grounded out on a close play to end the inning and keep the score 2-0.
Stevens struck out the lead-off batter to open the seventh, before Mauga collected a line drive by Miranda for the second out. The sophomore hurler put the finishing touches on the shutout with her sixth strikeout of the afternoon. 25th win in her 27th complete game of the 2015 campaign.
Top Performers
- Kirsten Stevens – 7 innings pitched, 6 hits, 0 runs, 6 strikeouts
- Taylor Miller – 4 at-bats, 1 hit, 2 RBIs
- Caroline Taylor – 2 at-bats, 1 hit, 1 run
- Kaylynn Sloat – 2 at-bats, 1 hit, 1 run
Tomorrow's matchup pits No.1 Chattanooga vs. No.3 Mercer. The Bears claimed the season series with a pair of victories at on April 26. Mercer took the first game of the series 5-4 in walk-off fashion before dropping game two 8-2. The Bears bounced back in the third game though , winning 8-0 in five innings to hand the Mocs their first series loss of the season. Tomorrow's semifinal matchup is set to start at 10:00 a.m. EST.
