Softball Set for Key Matchup at Samford

MACON, Ga. – Mercer softball is on the road in Southern Conference play this weekend, as the Bears travel to Birmingham, Ala., to meet Samford in a three-game series starting Friday afternoon.

The Bears and Bulldogs will kick off a doubleheader at 5 p.m. Friday before finishing off the series with a 2 p.m. first pitch Saturday. Mercer (20-23, 6-3 SoCon) dropped two-of-three to Chattanooga last weekend, but still sits at second in the league behind Samford (20-25, 9-3 SoCon).

WEEKEND LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (20-23, 6-3 SoCon) at Samford (20-25, 9-3 SoCon)
Location: Birmingham, Ala. | Samford Softball Field
Friday (Game 1): April 19 | 5 p.m. | Live Stats
Friday (Game 2): April 19 | 7 p.m. | Live Stats
Saturday: April 20 | 2 p.m. | Live Stats
Twitter Updates: @MercerUSoftball

QUICK HITS

After falling in the first two games against Chattanooga at Sikes Field, both by the score of 2-4, Mercer bounced back and won a pitchers' duel in the finale, 2-1.
Freshman Bailey Pattison continued her stretch of dominance on the mound, working a three-hit complete game in the circle to pick up the win in game three. She leads the SoCon with a 0.71 ERA through three conference starts.
Pattison's efforts earned her SoCon Pitcher of the Week honors.
The Bears lead the conference in scoring this season, averaging 5.19 runs per game.
Danielle Castleberry ranks second in the league batting at a .365 clip so far this year and is just one point behind the league-leader. The redshirt sophomore also holds the second-best on-base percentage with a .477.
As a team, Mercer is tops in the SoCon with 1.21 stolen bases per game and has posted the second-highest batting average with a .277.

SERIES HISTORY
Mercer is 31-42-1 all-time against Samford – the two teams split the regular-season series last year before the finale was cancelled and then met in the SoCon Tournament in Greensboro to end the campaign.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Coming into the weekend, Samford has won five straight along with four consecutive league series victories – it swept ETSU last time out. Whitney Hinton paces the club with 11 homers, nine doubles and 37 runs driven and was named the SoCon Player of the Week this week.

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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Players Mentioned

Danielle Castleberry

Bailey Pattison

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