Saturday, April 1
Johnson City, Tenn.
1 PM ET
Mercer University
at
ETSU
Mercer Heads to ETSU for SoCon Series Starting Saturday
3/31/2017 1:41:00 PM | Softball
MACON, Ga. – Mercer has only played three true road games this year – and none in a multi-game series – but that number doubles this weekend as the Bears head to ETSU for a three-game set in Johnson City, Tennessee starting with a doubleheader on Saturday.
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GAMEDAY DETAILS
Teams: Mercer (16-20, 2-1 SoCon) at ETSU (14-16, 0-0 SoCon)
Dates: Saturday-Sunday, April 1-2
Location: Johnson City, Tenn. | Betty Basler Field
Game 1: Saturday, April 1 | 1 p.m. | Live Stats
Game 2: Saturday, April 1 | 3 p.m. | Live Stats
Game 3: Sunday, April 2 | 1 p.m. | Live Stats
Twitter Updates: @MercerUSoftball
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Quick Hits
• Mercer hits the road this weekend for a three-game series at ETSU.
• Mercer is 17-10 all-time against ETSU and the conference mates, formerly in the Atlantic Sun and now in the Southern, have played every year since 2006.
• The Bears are coming off a series win over Chattanooga with two dominant wins following a close, one-run loss in the series opener.
• ETSU enters this weekend's games with a 14-16 record and will open conference play this weekend. The opening weekend of SoCon play for most teams was a conference bye for the Bucs and they took the weekend off. ETSU hosted Presbyterian in a doubleheader sweep of the Blue Hose Wednesday by scores of 3-2 and 5-4.
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On The Road Again
Mercer hits the road again as the Bears enter this week having played 15 games on the road. But only three of them have been true road games while 12 of those 15 have been classified as neutral site games in the various tournaments Mercer has played in. This weekend when Mercer is at ETSU, the Bears are looking for their first true road win of the season.
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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 on pace to surpass last year's total. The Bears are 81 for 88 in stolen base attempts, ranking 10th nationally with 2.25 steals per game. Meghan Rud (28) and Taylor Miller (24) are the top two stolen base threats in the conference.
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Mercer Stolen Bases Nationally Ranked
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Better than Teams in the SoCon
Both Meghan Rud and Taylor Miller not only are nationally ranked in stolen bases but their marks are better than most Southern Conference teams. The two Bears have more stolen bases than all but two SoCon teams, Samford (39) and Furman (28).
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Stolen Bases
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Where Do The Bears Rank?
Just how remarkable is Mercer's stolen base mark? The Bears enter the weekend with 81 stolen bases, ranking 11th all-time for a single season in Southern Conference history. With the entire conference season still yet to be played, Mercer is likely to move up in that list but how high will the Bears climb? The SoCon record for stolen bases in the season is 136 set by Appalachian State back in 2004.
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Getting Your Hacks In
Mercer's .287 team batting average is the second-best mark in the SoCon. Three Bears – Rud (.387), Miller (.419) and Lane (.329) are all ranked in the top 10 in the SoCon in batting average while Quirisa Mauga (.302) ranks 19th.
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•            Mercer owns the SoCon's top two individual runs scored totals in Rud (32) and Miller (28) while Megan Lane (22) ranks seventh
•            Mauga leads the league with 33 RBIs
•            Mauga is second the league in doubles (11)
•            Rud sits tied atop the SoCon in triples (4)
•            Walsh is in a three-way tie for second in the SoCon in home runs (5)
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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.
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GAMEDAY DETAILS
Teams: Mercer (16-20, 2-1 SoCon) at ETSU (14-16, 0-0 SoCon)
Dates: Saturday-Sunday, April 1-2
Location: Johnson City, Tenn. | Betty Basler Field
Game 1: Saturday, April 1 | 1 p.m. | Live Stats
Game 2: Saturday, April 1 | 3 p.m. | Live Stats
Game 3: Sunday, April 2 | 1 p.m. | Live Stats
Twitter Updates: @MercerUSoftball
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Quick Hits
• Mercer hits the road this weekend for a three-game series at ETSU.
• Mercer is 17-10 all-time against ETSU and the conference mates, formerly in the Atlantic Sun and now in the Southern, have played every year since 2006.
• The Bears are coming off a series win over Chattanooga with two dominant wins following a close, one-run loss in the series opener.
• ETSU enters this weekend's games with a 14-16 record and will open conference play this weekend. The opening weekend of SoCon play for most teams was a conference bye for the Bucs and they took the weekend off. ETSU hosted Presbyterian in a doubleheader sweep of the Blue Hose Wednesday by scores of 3-2 and 5-4.
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On The Road Again
Mercer hits the road again as the Bears enter this week having played 15 games on the road. But only three of them have been true road games while 12 of those 15 have been classified as neutral site games in the various tournaments Mercer has played in. This weekend when Mercer is at ETSU, the Bears are looking for their first true road win of the season.
Â
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 on pace to surpass last year's total. The Bears are 81 for 88 in stolen base attempts, ranking 10th nationally with 2.25 steals per game. Meghan Rud (28) and Taylor Miller (24) are the top two stolen base threats in the conference.
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Mercer Stolen Bases Nationally Ranked
| Name | Nat'l | SoCon | Stat |
| Taylor Miller | 18 | 1 | 0.78 |
| Meghan Rud | 20 | 2 | 0.75 |
Better than Teams in the SoCon
Both Meghan Rud and Taylor Miller not only are nationally ranked in stolen bases but their marks are better than most Southern Conference teams. The two Bears have more stolen bases than all but two SoCon teams, Samford (39) and Furman (28).
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Stolen Bases
| Name | SB |
| Samford | 39 |
| Furman | 28 |
| Meghan Rud | 28 |
| Taylor Miller | 24 |
| UNCG | 24 |
| Chattanooga | 17 |
| Western Carolina | 16 |
| ETSU | 4 |
Where Do The Bears Rank?
Just how remarkable is Mercer's stolen base mark? The Bears enter the weekend with 81 stolen bases, ranking 11th all-time for a single season in Southern Conference history. With the entire conference season still yet to be played, Mercer is likely to move up in that list but how high will the Bears climb? The SoCon record for stolen bases in the season is 136 set by Appalachian State back in 2004.
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| Rank | SBs | School | Year |
| 1. | 136 | Appalachian State | 2004 |
| 2. | 116 | Georgia Southern | 1999 |
| 3. | 102 | Appalachian State | 2007 |
| 4. | 98 | College of Charleston | 2001 |
| 98 | Appalachian State | 2010 | |
| 6. | 96 | UNCG | 2000 |
| 7. | 93 | ETSU | 2005 |
| 8. | 89 | Mercer | 2015 |
| 9. | 87 | Appalachian State | 2003 |
| 10. | 82 | UNCG | 2002 |
| 11. | 81 | Mercer | 2017 |
Getting Your Hacks In
Mercer's .287 team batting average is the second-best mark in the SoCon. Three Bears – Rud (.387), Miller (.419) and Lane (.329) are all ranked in the top 10 in the SoCon in batting average while Quirisa Mauga (.302) ranks 19th.
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•            Mercer owns the SoCon's top two individual runs scored totals in Rud (32) and Miller (28) while Megan Lane (22) ranks seventh
•            Mauga leads the league with 33 RBIs
•            Mauga is second the league in doubles (11)
•            Rud sits tied atop the SoCon in triples (4)
•            Walsh is in a three-way tie for second in the SoCon in home runs (5)
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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.
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