Softball Heads to Auburn for Plainsman Invitational

Friday, February 17

Auburn, Ala.

10:45 AM ET

Mercer University

Creighton

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Photo by: Sheldon Whitfield

Softball Heads to Auburn for Plainsman Invitational

2/16/2017 1:03:00 PM | Softball

Gameday Central Live Stats vs. Creighton Plainsman Invitational Gameday Central Live Stats vs. Evansville

The Bears will battle Creighton, Evansville, SIUE and No. 2 Auburn

By: Gerrit Van Genderen

AUBURN, Ala. – Fresh off of a 2-2 weekend at home in the Mercer Invitational, the Bears are prepared to make their first road trip of the season to Auburn, Alabama for the Plainsman Invitational. Mercer will play five games over a three-day stretch from Feb. 17-19.

The opposition will include the likes of Creighton (Feb. 17), Evansville (Feb. 17), Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (Feb. 18, Feb. 19) and No. 2 (USA Today/NFCA) Auburn (Feb. 19). All games will be at Auburn's Jane B. Moore Field; Mercer's matchup with the Tigers will air live on SEC Network+ with Britain Bowen and Anna Gibbs on the call.

TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK
Date: Friday, Feb. 17 – Sunday, Feb. 19
Location: Auburn, Alabama | Jane B. Moore Field
Teams (Records): Mercer (2-2); Creighton (1-4); Evansville (0-0); SIUE (5-0); Auburn (3-1)
Game Notes: Auburn; Evansville; SIUE; Creighton; Mercer
Gameday Central: AuburnTigers.com
Twitter Updates: @MercerUSoftball
Tickets: AuburnTix.com
Live Video vs. Auburn: ESPN3/SEC Network+
Online Radio vs. Auburn: AuburnTigers.com

MERCER AT THE PLAINSMAN INVITATIONAL

DATE	TIME	TEAMS	LIVE STATS
Friday, Feb. 17	10:45 a.m. ET	Mercer vs. Creighton	http://bit.ly/2kucW4x
Friday, Feb. 17	1 p.m. ET	Mercer vs. Evansville	http://bit.ly/2lbNhKM
Saturday, Feb. 18	11:30 a.m. ET	Mercer vs. SIUE	http://bit.ly/2kWFSka
Sunday, Feb. 19	12:45 p.m. ET	Mercer vs. SIUE	http://bit.ly/2lmgWDC
Sunday, Feb. 19	3 p.m.	Mercer at No. 2 Auburn	http://bit.ly/2lPz49u

IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE
Speed kills. After leading the Southern Conference in stolen bases for a second straight year in 2016 (76 swipes in 89 attempts), Mercer picked up where it left off at its season-opening invitational. The Bears stole nine bases in 10 attempts, highlighted by four from Meghan Rud, who ranks fourth in program history with 56 steals.

STREAKING EARLY
Rud and Quirisa Mauga enter the Plainsman Invitational with respective batting averages of .571 and .500 after both started the season off on four-game hitting streaks. Rud had seven hits in her first eight at-bats while Mauga – who had a team-best 20-game streak of reaching base last season – already owns four extra-base hits: three doubles and one home run.

BIG GAME MINDSET
Mercer would be wise to remember the last time it faced a ranked opponent when it prepares for its contest at No. 2 Auburn on Sunday. The Bears walked away with a 5-2 win over No. 17 Minnesota at the FAU Invitational on March 12, 2016, powered by a complete-game performance in the circle from Maxine Rodriguez.

SNEAKY START
Although 2016 SoCon batting champion and 2017 Preseason All-SoCon First Team selection Taylor Miller has yet to record an at-bat this season, she has made sure everyone recognizes her speed on the base paths. The senior outfielder was safe on both of her stolen base attempts and scored once during Mercer's two wins Feb. 11.

"STELLA-R" START
Freshman right-hander Stella Preston tossed a five-hit complete game in her collegiate debut to power Mercer to a 5-1 win over Portland State on Feb. 11. After allowing a leadoff double to start the game, Preston retired 11 consecutive batters to settle in. Her only blemish was a solo home run as she struck out four and did not allow a walk.

SAME NAME, NEW REGIME
After three years as a co-head coach alongside her brother, James, Stephanie DeFeo takes the full reigns of the Mercer softball program in 2017. DeFeo earned her 100th victory at Mercer with the Bears' 5-1 win over Portland State last weekend and is 101-78 since arriving in Macon. She was instrumental in the program's best-ever three-year stretch, helping Mercer go 99-76 over the last three seasons.

With the return of assistant coach Heather Han and two first-year assistant coaches, Mike Giannamore and Kathleen Watson-Otani, DeFeo and company anticipate bright results in their 2017 campaign.

HIGH EXPECTATIONS
Mercer was picked by Southern Conference coaches to finish in a two-way tie for third place in the league standings this spring. Since its first season in the SoCon in 2015, Mercer has been picked second, fourth and third, respectively, in the preseason poll.

Taylor Miller, Quirisa Mauga, Meghan Rud and Taylor Rodgers earned 2017 Preseason All-SoCon honors. Miller was named to her third straight Preseason First Team and was joined by Mauga, who earned her first-ever conference accolade. Rud was named to the Preseason Second Team for the second straight season while Rodgers earned her first preseason SoCon nod.

SCOUTING CREIGHTON
The Bluejays are off to a 1-4 start after facing a tough season-opening slate Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona last weekend. Losses to No. 9 Oregon, San Jose State, Stanford and Cal Poly put a damper on Creighton's lone win over Saint Mary's (Calif.).

Creighton – which was picked fifth out of eight teams in the preseason BIG EAST coaches poll – mustered only seven runs on 12 hits during the tournament, led by three from Tash Coffiel (team-best .353 batting average in 2016). However, junior right-hander Bryana Clark posted a 2.15 ERA while logging 13 innings and a win in the circle en route to BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week accolades. Clark went the distance in Creighton's win over Saint Mary's, striking out three and allowing only five hits.

Friday's contest between Mercer and Creighton will be their first-ever meeting.

SCOUTING EVANSVILLE
The Purple Aces, who did not play on the opening weekend of the 2017 season, will start their campaign against Mercer at noon Friday. Mercer is 1-3 all-time against Evansville, most recently splitting a pair at the 2015 Black & Orange Challenge in Macon. After falling, 6-4, in the front end of the doubleheader, Mercer defeated Evansville, 7-1.

The senior-heavy Purple Aces went 24-26 (12-14 Missouri Valley Conference) in 2016, making a 14-game improvement upon a 10-45 mark in 2015. Freshman RHP Morgan Florey returns after posting a 1.95 ERA in 190 innings pitched last year. She struck out 214 batters and went 16-11. Michal Luckett (.312 batting average in 2016) returns as well.

SCOUTING SIUE
The Cougars outscored their competition 31-10 en route to a strong 5-0 start at the Mardi Gras Classic in Monroe, Louisiana last weekend. Three SIUE batters totaled six hits apiece including Allison Smiley, who leads the team in batting average (.429) and runs batted in (8).

More impressively, senior southpaw Haley Chambers-Book went 3-0 in the circle over 19 IP and struck out 26 batters, leading to a staggering 0.74 ERA. Chambers-Book broke SIUE's career strikeouts record during the Cougars' opening weekend.

Mercer and SIUE will play twice in Auburn this weekend. The Cougars won the only previous meeting of the two programs, 8-7 at the KSU Classic on Feb. 17, 2013 in Kennesaw, Georgia.

SCOUTING AUBURN
The nation's preseason No. 2 team (USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Poll) opened the season with a 3-1 mark the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge in Mexico, including a 3-2 win over preseason No. 1 Oklahoma in a rematch of the 2016 Women's College World Series final.

A pair of pitchers, Kaylee Carlson and Makayla Martin, led Auburn in Mexico, logging 31-combined IP with 11 strikeouts and a 1.13 ERA. Kendall Veach hit a pair of long balls for the Tigers, who outscored their opposition, 10-6, over the four contests.

Mercer will look to gain ground on Auburn in their all-time series, which the Tigers lead 17-4. Auburn has won three straight and is 12-3 at Jane B. Moore Field against the Bears.

FOLLOW THE BEARS
For complete coverage of Mercer Softball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerUSoftball (Twitter), /MercerSoftball (Facebook) and @MercerUSoftball (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.