Bears Wrap Up Regular Season Wednesday with Alabama State

Wednesday, May 3

Macon, Ga.

5 PM ET

Mercer University

Alabama State

Bears Wrap Up Regular Season Wednesday with Alabama State

5/2/2017 4:44:00 PM | Softball

Live Stats

By: Patrick T. Walsh

MACON, Ga. – Mercer will wrap up the regular season Wednesday evening as the Bears host Alabama State at 5 p.m. at Sikes Field.

THE ALABAMA STATE GAME
Teams: Mercer (23-29) vs. Alabama State (16-30)
Date: Wednesday, May 3 | 5 p.m.
Location: Macon, Ga. | Sikes Field
Broadcast: ASN
Live Stats: MercerBears.com/livestats
Twitter Updates: @MercerUSoftball

Quick Hits
• Mercer wraps up the regular season Wednesday as the Bears host Alabama State at Sikes Field at 5 p.m.
• Mercer leads Alabama State, 23-3, in the all-time series after splitting last year's doubleheader in Montgomery. The Bears won the first game, 16-5, but dropped the nightcap, 8-7.
• Alabama State is 16-30 on the year entering Wednesday's game and is coming off a series win over Mississippi Valley State, winning the final two games of the three-game series in Itta Bena, Mississippi.
• The Bears continue to be one of the nation's most dangerous teams on the base paths, ranking 13th nationally (and first in the SoCon) with an average of 2.00 steals per game.
• Both Taylor Miller (90) and Meghan Rud (89) are closing in on the school record for career stolen bases. The mark of 93 was set by McKenzie Woody (2011-14).
• Freshman Stella Preston is tied for the national lead in saves this season (6).
• Mercer needs only two more wins to record the program's 700th overall victory.

Bears More Than Double Conference Win Total
With a 9-9 record in Southern Conference play this season, Mercer more than doubled last year's SoCon win total (4). The Bears finished the season just one win shy of matching its most conference wins since joining the Southern Conference (10).

Rud Sets Program Season Stolen Base Record
Meghan Rud set a new single season school record in the third inning of Mercer's April 13 game at South Carolina as she swiped her 32nd base of the year. That broke her own record of 31 stolen bases, set last year and matched this season.

But she can't let up. Taylor Miller is hot on her heels with 31 swipes on the year and continues to keep pace with Rud.

Stolen Bases (Single Season)

No.	Player	Year
37	Meghan Rud	2017
31	Taylor Miller	2017
31	Meghan Rud	2016
27	Anna Johnson	2011
26	Kristi Hopkins	2000

Career Record Coming Soon ... But to Whom?
Meghan Rud set a new single season school record in stolen bases in April this year but she has competition if she wants the career record (this year). Teammate Taylor Miller has 90 career stolen bases while Rud enters this week's action with 89. Both are quickly approaching the Mercer career record of 93 stolen bases set by McKenzie Woody (2011-14).

Stolen Bases (Career)

No.	Player	Years
93	McKenzie Woody	2011-14
90	Taylor Miller	2014-Present
89	Meghan Rud	2015-Present
77	Anna Johnson	2008-11
42	Shannon Tolin	1997-98

Three Under Three
Mercer enters this week's play as the only team in the Southern Conference with three pitchers holding a season ERA of under 3.00. Megan Bilgri (2.33), Anna O'Neill (2.59) and Stella Preston (2.70) all have earned run averages under the 3.00 threshold.

Stella!
Stella Preston is having quite the freshman season. Already having set the program's single-season record for saves at six (see above), she is tied for the national lead and leads the Southern Conference in the category while her ERA of 2.70 ranks third in the league behind only Furman's Lindsey Bert (2.04) and Mercer's Megan Bilgri (2.33).

Mercer Led By Strong Arms
Mercer's performance in the pitching circle has been exemplary and the numbers back that up. Entering this week's games, Mercer's Megan Bilgri (2.35) and Stella Preston (2.85) rank second and third, respectively, in the SoCon in ERA. But those numbers get even more impressive when you look at conference-only games, where Bilgri (1.21) and Preston (1.45) pack a powerful punch.

Pitcher	ERA	SoCon Rank	SoCon ERA	Rank
Megan Bilgri	2.33	2nd	1.25	2nd
Stella Preston	2.70	3rd	1.26	1st

Including the National Saves Leader
Stella Preston has not just been dominating the Southern Conference, her performance in the circle this year is literally as good as anyone in the country. She enters this week's play ranked first in the nation (tied) with six saves this season. That matches only three other pitchers across the country in total number of saves.

Rk	Player	Cl	App	IP	SV
1	Stella Preston, Mercer (Southern)	Fr.	27	114.0	6
1	Sydney O'Hara, Syracuse (Atlantic Coast)	Sr.	30	68.2	6
1	Kelsey Fredericks, Miami (OH) (Mid-American)	Sr.	32	87.0	6
1	Megan Landry, Nicholls St. (Southland)	So.	34	157.2	6

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.