Bears Return to Orlando for UCF Tournament

Friday, March 10

Orlando, Fla.

9:30 AM ET

Mercer University

#16 Georgia

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3/9/2017 4:24:00 PM | Softball

Live Stats Tournament Central

Five games against four opponents await Mercer

By: Gerrit Van Genderen

MACON, Ga. – Mercer will make another road trip to Orlando, Florida this weekend for a five-game slate against four opponents at the UCF Wilson/DeMarini Tournament on March 10-12.

Mercer (11-11) opens the tournament against intrastate foe No. 16 (NFCA/USA Today) Georgia at 9:30 a.m. Friday before battling Delaware State later in the afternoon (2:30 p.m.). A pair of contests with UCF (Saturday, 5:30 p.m. and Sunday, 1:30 p.m.) sandwich a Sunday morning meeting with Ohio State at 11:30 a.m.

Both games against the host Knights will be featured on UCFKnights.TV with a paid subscription.

It is the penultimate non-conference tournament for the Bears this season, who will return to Macon next week to host Notre Dame on March 15 before welcoming four programs to Sikes Field for the Mercer Bears Classic on March 17-19.

UCF WILSON/DEMARINI TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK
Date: Friday, March 10 – Sunday, March 12
Location: Orlando, Fla. | UCF Softball Complex
Teams: Mercer (11-11); #16 Georgia (19-3); Delaware State (1-10); UCF (10-7); Ohio State (7-5)
Tournament Central: UCFKnights.com
Live Stats: MercerBears.com
Twitter Updates: @MercerUSoftball

UCF WILSON/DEMARINI TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

DATE	TIME	TEAMS (HOME UNDERLINED)	LIVE STATS
Friday, March 10	9:30 a.m. ET	#16 Georgia vs. Mercer	http://bit.ly/2lDZrQ4
Friday, March 10	2:30 p.m. ET	Delaware State vs Mercer	http://bit.ly/2lDZrQ4
Saturday, March 11	5:30 p.m. ET	Mercer at UCF	http://bit.ly/2lDZrQ4
Sunday, March 12	11:30 a.m. ET	Mercer vs. Ohio State	http://bit.ly/2lDZrQ4
Sunday, March 12	1:30 p.m. ET	Mercer at UCF	http://bit.ly/2lDZrQ4

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 54 for 60 in stolen base attempts, ranking ninth nationally with 2.45 steals per game. Meghan Rud (18), Taylor Miller (12) and Megan Lane (8) are the top three stolen base threats in the conference as Rud's individual total is more than all but two SoCon teams.

GETTING YOUR HACKS IN
Mercer's .305 team batting average is the top mark in the SoCon as the Bears are the only team hitting above .300. Four Bears – Rud (.403), Miller (.388), Lane (.356) and Quirisa Mauga (.344) are all above .300 while Danielle Castleberry (.296) and Abby Walsh (.294) are just under the mark.

Mercer owns the SoCon's top-four individual runs scored totals
Mauga and Walsh are 1-2 in the league with 21 and 18 RBIs
Mauga leads the league in doubles (8)
Rud sits atop the SoCon in triples (2)
Walsh is in a six-way tie for the league lead in home runs (5)

GUESS WHO'S BACK?
2017 Preseason All-SoCon First Team selection Taylor Miller started her season with a 10-game hit streak and already has six total games with at least two hits. She's reached base in 13 consecutive games, maintaining her steady approach in the Bears' lineup.

FINDING THE GROOVE
After a sluggish 10-game start to the season and her collegiate career, Abby Walsh has developed into one of Mercer's top bats over the last two weeks. Since Feb. 24, the freshman outfielder is batting .444 with 14 RBIs and four home runs, providing a necessary pop in the middle of the lineup.

SCOUTING #16 GEORGIA

Owns 19-3 record entering the weekend and is hitting a collective .385 with 15 home runs
Riding seven-game win streak
Sydni Emanuel (.479) has a 17-game hit streak along with 21 RBIs
Owns a collective 1.51 ERA behind Brittany Gray (12-1, 1.23 ERA)

SCOUTING DELAWARE STATE

Enters the weekend 1-10 overall with its lone win coming against South Carolina State
Mika Lumsden owns a team-best .379 batting average while Desiree Moreno has a team-high eight RBIs
Four pitchers on staff have logged a collective 8.32 ERA
Mercer is 1-0 all-time against the Hornets

SCOUTING UCF

The Knights are 10-7 against a tough schedule; all seven losses have come to teams ranked in the Top 25 or receiving votes in the two major polls
Has stolen 30 bases in 31 attempts with five players recording at least four apiece
Two batters above .380 (Courtney Rotton, .388 and Linnea Goodman, .383)
Freshman pitcher Alea White leads the Knights in innings (59.0) and strikeouts (38)
Fell to #13 James Madison, 9-1, which Mercer defeated at D9 Citrus Classic II last weekend
Mercer trails 3-8 in the all-time series against its former ASUN foe

SCOUTING OHIO STATE

Enters the weekend with a 7-5 record and is 3-2 in its last five contests
Split with UNC (7-8, 10-2) and Louisville (0-9, 4-3) in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Feb. 17-18
Buckeyes have hit 18 home runs in 12 games, led by six from Alex Bayne (.325 batting average)
Two players hitting over .400 (Lilli Piper, .463 and Anna Kirk, .419)
Shelby Hursh and Lena Springer lead Ohio State with ERA numbers of 1.21 and 2.72

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.