Mercer Geared Up For Black & Orange Challenge

Friday, February 24

Macon, Ga.

5:30 PM ET

Mercer University

Marist

Photo by: Sheldon Whitfield

Mercer Geared Up For Black & Orange Challenge

2/23/2017 5:07:00 PM | Softball

Live Stats vs. Marist

The Bears open the tournament at 5:30 p.m. Friday vs. Marist

By: Gerrit Van Genderen

MACON, Ga. – Mercer will continue its eight-game home stand and welcome Marist, Fort Wayne and Savannah State to Sikes Field this weekend for the 2017 Black & Orange Challenge. Nine total games will be played in the tournament, starting Friday when the Bears host Marist at 5:30 p.m.

The Bears (4-6) are looking to snap a current four-game losing skid against three programs that are a combined 2-22 entering the weekend. Mercer most recently lost, 8-4, to Georgia State Wednesday at Sikes Field.

Mercer will play in five of the tournament's nine games, facing Marist Friday before taking on Fort Wayne and Savannah State twice Saturday and Sunday.

TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK
Date: Friday, Feb. 24 – Sunday, Feb. 26
Location: Macon, Georgia | Sikes Field
Teams (Records): Mercer (4-6); Marist (2-2); Fort Wayne (0-8); Savannah State (0-12)
Live Stats: MercerBears.com/LiveStats
Twitter Updates: @MercerUSoftball

BLACK & ORANGE CHALLENGE SCHEDULE

DATE	TIME	TEAMS (HOME UNDERLINED)	LIVE STATS
Friday, Feb. 24	5:30 p.m.	Marist at Mercer	http://statb.us/b/161338
Saturday, Feb. 25	10 a.m.	Fort Wayne vs. Marist	http://statb.us/b/161339
Saturday, Feb. 25	12:15 p.m.	Marist vs. Savannah State	http://statb.us/b/161340
Saturday, Feb. 25	2:30 p.m.	Fort Wayne at Mercer	http://statb.us/b/161341
Saturday, Feb. 25	4:45 p.m.	Savannah State at Mercer	http://statb.us/b/161342
Sunday, Feb. 26	10 a.m.	Fort Wayne vs. Marist	http://statb.us/b/168511
Sunday, Feb. 26	12:15 p.m.	Savannah State vs. Marist	http://statb.us/b/168512
Sunday, Feb. 26	2:30 p.m.	Fort Wayne at Mercer	http://statb.us/b/168513
Sunday, Feb. 26	4:45 p.m.	Savannah State at Mercer	http://statb.us/b/168514

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 is picking up where it left off. The Bears are 25-for-27 in stolen base attempts, highlighted by Meghan Rud's 11 individual steals. Taylor Miller has four steals while Megan Lane and Emma Andrew have three steals apiece.

GUESS WHO'S BACK?
2016 SoCon batting champion and 2017 Preseason All-SoCon First Team selection Taylor Miller made her first start of the season Wednesday against Georgia State, going 1-for-4 at the plate as the designated player. Miller has appeared in six total games, mostly as a pinch runner.

RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE
Four Bears are making an immediate impact at the plate early this season, led by leadoff batter Meghan Rud. The junior is second in the SoCon with a .515 batting average and already has two triples to her name while leading the team with five RBIs. Quirisa Mauga, Megan Lane and Maxine Rodriguez all own .333 batting averages as well.

WAIT, YOU'RE THE NEW KID?
Three freshmen have shown glimpses of why Coach DeFeo recruited them to be Bears. Abby Walsh and Danielle Castleberry have started all nine contests in right field and second base, respectively, and have risen to the occasion at the plate. Walsh collected her first career hit with a decisive two-run home run in a 4-0 win over Dayton on Feb. 11 and Castleberry had an eventual game-winning two-run single in Mercer's 3-1 win vs. Evansville.

Pitcher Stella Preston owns a 2.74 ERA and is 2-1 in the circle. She struck out a SoCon-best 11 batters in Mercer's 3-1 win over Evansville in Auburn last weekend.

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 on Feb. 11 and is 103-82 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.

LAST TIME: 2016 BLACK & ORANGE CHALLENGE
Mercer hung tough and posted three wins over Iowa State (twice) and Fordham to go 3-2 in last year's Black & Orange Challenge. The three wins were sandwiched by a pair of losses to Boston College, which rounded out the tournament's competition.

SCOUTING MARIST
Marist opened its 2017 campaign a week later than most programs and went 2-2 in a pair of doubleheaders. The Red Foxes split with Norfolk State on Feb. 18 before earning a win against Coppin State and falling to Morgan State the following day.

Three Marist batters had quality opening weekends and are hitting above .350, including Casey Page and Kourtney Paul, who both hitting .375. Pitcher Kallen Leeseberg has 15 strikeouts in 6.2 innings.

Mercer has won all four head-to-head contests with Marist, including a pair on back-to-back days of the 2014 Mercer Bears Classic.

SCOUTING FORT WAYNE
The Mastodons suffered four-loss weekends at both the Total Control Sports Invitational in Rosemont, Ill. and the Black & Gold Tournament at Alabama State this year. Fort Wayne has mustered only 14 runs in the eight contests and is hitting a collective .211 at the plate so far.

However, the visitors from Fort Wayne, Indiana do lead Mercer in their all-time series, 2-1. The Bears were victorious in the last meeting, defeating the Mastodons 11-1 on Feb. 6, 2015.

SCOUTING SAVANNAH STATE
This intrastate series has proven to be one-sided over the years, as Mercer owns a 30-3 all-time record against Savannah State. The Lady Tigers are winless (0-12) so far this year and are allowing an average of 10.5 runs per game. Cortni Jones leads the team with a .571 batting average and five extra-base hits.

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.