Softball Takes to the Road at Gamecock Invitational

Friday, February 16

Columbia, S.C.

2:30 P.M.

Mercer University

Southern Illinois

Photo by: Southern Conference

Softball Takes to the Road at Gamecock Invitational

2/15/2018 4:14:00 PM | Softball

Tournament Central Game Notes

Bears will square off with Southern Illinois, Georgetown, Michigan State and South Carolina

By: David Fox

MACON, Ga. – Mercer will take part in the 2018 Gamecock Invitational this weekend, hosted by South Carolina in Columbia, S.C.

The Bears will kick off the tournament with a 2:30 p.m. showdown against Southern Illinois on Friday, before battling Georgetown (10 a.m.) and Michigan State (12:30 p.m.) in a doubleheader on Saturday. Mercer will conclude the invitational on Sunday with a 3 p.m. tilt against South Carolina.

TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK
Date: Friday, Feb. 16 – Sunday, Feb. 18
Location: Columbia, S.C. | Beckham Field
Teams (2018 Records): Mercer (4-0), Southern Illinois (2-2), Georgetown (1-4), Michigan State (2-3), South Carolina (5-1)
Tournament Central: gamecocksonline.com/livestats
Twitter Updates: @MercerUSoftball
Game Notes: Mercer Notes

Georgia's Finest
Mercer enters the Gamecock Invitational with a 4-0 overall record for the first time since 2000. The Bears are also the only NCAA Division I softball squad with a 4-0 mark in the state of Georgia.

Opening Week Success
The Bears rank first in the conference in batting average (.410), slugging percentage (.623), on-base percentage (.460), runs scored (36), hits (50), runs batted in (30) and homeruns (6). Meghan Rud and Laurenne Sanchez had themselves a great first week, batting .538 each with 12 combined runs scored. Abby Walsh leads the league in RBIs with six, while tying Emma Andrew in homeruns with two. Rud finished 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts, needing just one more to break the all-time record in program history.

Scouting the Salukis
Mercer is 0-2 all-time against Southern Illinois, falling 3-1 (2010) and 10-4 (2012). The Salukis are off to a 2-2 start with wins over Abilene Christian and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Southern Illinois is led by Susie Baranski, batting .417 with one extra-base hit. Sydney Jones led the squad in long balls through the first weekend, blasting two for the tournament. Brianna Jones paces the Salukis in the circle with a 2-0 record and a 1.00 ERA.

How 'bout them Hoyas?
Georgetown had a rough opening weekend, finishing 1-4 at the FGCU Kickoff Classic in Fort Myers, Fla. The Hoyas' lone win came in the tournament finale against LIU Brooklyn, 8-3. Theresa Kane is the player to watch for Georgetown, finishing the tournament with a .529 batting average. Anna Brooks Pacha pitched 9.1 innings of work, walking away with a 1-1 overall record and a 3.86 ERA.

Saturday will be the first-ever meeting between the two squads.

Sparring with the Spartans
Mercer is 2-1 all-time against Michigan State, claiming the previous two victories over the Spartans (1-0, 6-0) in 2015. The Spartans ended the Florida Atlantic Tournament with a 2-3 overall record, registering wins over Bethune Cookman and Northern Illinois.

McKenzie Long paced the offensive unit in the opening tournament, batting .462 with six hits in 13 at bats. Kelcey Carrasco and Lea Foerster lead the squad in RBIs with three apiece. Kristina Zalewski posted the best ERA in the opening weekend (0.54), despite coming away with a 0-2 record.

Getting to Know the Gamecocks
South Carolina enters the weekend with a 5-1 overall record, finishing 4-1 in the FIU Tournament hosted by Florida International. The Gamecocks' lone loss came at the hands of FIU, 3-1. The Gamecocks most recently defeated Charlotte in a midweek matchup, 5-2.

Mackenzie Boesel is leading the squad in batting average at .389, hitting one long ball and plating six RBIs. Kenzi Maguire (.375) and Cayla Drotar (.333) join Boesel above the .300 mark. Drotar also gets the job done in the circle, posting a 3-0 record with an ERA of just 1.11.

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.