Bears Set for Final Nonconference Tournament

Friday, March 16

Macon, Ga.

3:30 P.M.

Mercer University

Austin Peay

Photo by: Dannie Walls Photography

3/15/2018 1:06:00 PM | Softball

Tournament Central

Bears will play host to Austin Peay, Bucknell and Rutgers

By: David Fox

MACON, Ga. – Mercer will host its final nonconference tournament this weekend, holding the annual Mercer Bears Classic beginning on Friday and concluding on Sunday afternoon.

The Bears will begin the tournament tomorrow with back-to-back games against Austin Peay (3:30 p.m.) and Rutgers (5:45 p.m.). Mercer will then play two games on Saturday against Bucknell (2:30 p.m.) and Rutgers at 4:45 p.m. The Orange & Black will conclude the tournament with a 1:15 p.m. showdown against Austin Peay on Sunday.

TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK
Date: Friday, March 16 – Sunday, March 18
Location: Macon, Ga. | Sikes Field
Teams (2018 Records): Mercer (16-8), Austin Peay (11-7), Bucknell (7-12), Rutgers (13-11)
Tournament Central: mercerbears.com/livestats
Twitter Updates: @MercerUSoftball

Fantastic Freshmen
The Bears have a trio of freshman who are lighting up the stats pages right now, led by Laurenne Sanchez who is batting .347 on the season. Sanchez paces the squad in doubles with seven on the season. Allie Jones is hitting .326 on the campaign with three doubles, one triple and 10 runs batted in. Micayla Rood is near the .300 mark, batting .297 with two doubles and two runs batted in.

Get to know the Govs
Austin Peay is 11-7 on the season, having won five consecutive games heading into the tournament. The Governors have won eight of their last nine contests, including a pair of wins over SoCon foe, ETSU. Danielle Liermann is batting .472 on the season with a whopping nine home runs and 29 runs batted in. Morgan Rackel has posted an ERA of 1.54 on the season with a 6-2 on the season.

Mercer is 12-4 all-time against the Governors, having won four of the last five contest. The Bears most recently upended Austin Peay on Feb. 27, 2016 by the final score of 10-2.

Herding the Bison
Bucknell is 7-12 so far in the season, having dropped six consecutive tilts as it heads into Macon for the Mercer Bears Classic. The Bison have yet to play a home game this season and are 5-6 in neutral games and 2-6 in true road contest. Bucknell has one player batting .300 in Lauren Hadley. Hadley leads the team in hits (18), while ranking second in runs batted in (9).

This will be the first ever meeting between Mercer and Bucknell.

Scouting the Scarlet Knights
Rutgers holds a 13-11 record on the season entering weekend play. The Scarlet Knights have won three consecutive games, and four of the last five contests. The one loss was a 4-1 decision to Florida A&M, the same Lady Rattlers team that Mercer outscored 14-3 in a doubleheader in February. Rutgers is led in batting by Rebecca Hall (.402) with 33 hits, three long balls and a team-high 26 runs batted in. Hall also leads the team in triples with six.

Mercer is 1-4 all-time against Rutgers, with the lone win on March 3, 2012 in Athens, Ga.

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.