Bears Travel to Alabama State for Weekend Tournament

Friday, February 28

Montgomery, Ala.

1:30 PM ET

Mercer University

Nicholls State

Photo by: Alex Keller

Bears Travel to Alabama State for Weekend Tournament

2/27/2020 11:02:00 AM | Softball

This is Mercer’s second of three tournaments on the road this season.

By: Kraig Doremus

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer softball team will head to Montgomery, Ala., this weekend for Alabama State's Black & Gold Tournament, its second of three tournaments away from Sikes Field.

Mercer will play five games over three days against three different opponents. The Bears open play on Friday against Nicholls State (1:30 p.m.) for the second time this season. Mercer will conclude the first day of action with a battle against the host, Alabama State (6:30 p.m.). On Saturday, the Bears will play Southern Miss (10:00 a.m.) and Nicholls State (3:00 p.m.) before finishing the tournament with a Sunday matchup against Nicholls State (10:00 a.m.).

TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK
Date: Friday, Feb. 28 – Sunday, Mar. 1
Location: Montgomery, Ala. | Barbara Williams Softball Complex
Teams: Mercer (8-8), Alabama State (6-9), Nicholls State (7-11), Southern Miss (10-4)
Live Stats (Mercer's games): BamaStateSports.com/LiveStats
Video: N/A
Twitter Updates: @MercerUSoftball

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
To view Mercer's games, click here

MERCER QUICK HITS

Thanks to wins in their final two games of the Black & Orange Challenge, Mercer improved to .500 on the season.
In the 8-0 win over the Georgia State Panthers on Saturday, Bailey Pattison tossed her first collegiate no-hitter and faced just 17 batters while throwing a mere 50 pitches.
Pattison's no-no was the first one for Mercer softball since Megan Bilgri's perfect game against Drexel on Feb. 23, 2018.
Junior Allie Jones enters the weekend with 95 career hits, five away from the century mark.
Danielle Castleberry has recorded two hits in each of the past six games.
Castleberry (22 hits) and Micayla Rood (20 hits) rank 19th and 44th in the country and first and third in the Southern Conference.
As a team, Mercer is ranked in the top-50 nationally in five statistical categories including: 18th in doubles (26), 22nd in stolen bases per game (2.06), 42nd in batting average (.315), 45th in on-base percentage (0.396) and 50th in scoring (6.00 runs per game).
In addition to hits, Castleberry leads the SoCon in three other categories: runs scored (15), doubles (4 along with Elisa Rosado) and hit by pitch (6).
Abby Walsh (14 walks) and Jones (13 stolen bases) lead the conference in those respective categories.

SCOUTING ALABAMA STATE
Alabama State is 6-9 overall and is coming off a 9-1 loss to No. 14 Georgia. The Yellow Jackets are .500 at home after picking up a pair of wins in last weekend's Stinger Classic. Alexis Sydnor has put fear in opposing pitchers with a .528 (19-for-36) batting average, which ranks 21^st in the country. Sydnor has hit six doubles this season and leads Alabama State with eight RBI. Three other players – Kaley Anthony (.395), Kindall DeRamus (.364) and Hailey Walker (.333) – are batting above .300. In the circle, Skylar Walker is 3-0 with two saves and a 4.55 ERA. Alex Veaoi is 2-1 overall and leads the team with a 3.21 ERA. Head coach Todd Bradley is in his first season at Alabama State. He picked up his 300th career victory in the Yellow Jackets' 8-0 triumph over South Carolina State on February 22.

SCOUTING NICHOLLS STATE
The Bears and Colonels met earlier this season at the 14th edition of The Spring Games in Madeira Beach, Fla. Nicholls State topped the Bears, 4-3, and enters the Black & Gold Tournament with a 7-11 record. The Colonels are coming off a marathon 16-inning game against South Alabama in which they earned a 4-3 win. Caitlin Garcia's RBI single to left center field plated Kennedy Hebert for the victory. Hebert went 3-for-7 in the contest and leads the Colonels with a .453 (24-for-53) batting average. Her 24 hits put her just outside the top-10 among all NCAA Division I players. Hebert has hit a team-high four bombs and eight extra base hits while ranking second in RBI with 11. Jordan Moon (2-2) and Emily Danehower (4-4) have been the pitcher of record in six of Nicholls State's seven victories. Moon leads the team with a 2.53 ERA, while Danehower has fanned 35 batters. Angel Santiago is in his ninth season at the helm and is 12 wins shy of 250 for his career.

SCOUTING SOUTHERN MISS
Southern Miss is 10-4 overall and enters the Black & Gold Tournament with a two-game winning streak thanks to a sweep of Alcorn State on Wednesday night. The Golden Eagles have three players hitting above .400 with Madison Rayner's .469 (15-for-32) batting average leading way. More than half of Rayner's hits go for extra bases as her five triples are the most in the country. Hannah Borden and Amber Pack are both hitting above .400 with a .429 average. In the circle, four pitchers have recorded at least two wins for the Golden Eagles. Makenna Pierce and Bailie Springfield have ERAs of 1.41 and 1.71, respectively, while Kaylan Lander's ERA is 1.85. Savanna Wood leads the team in strikeouts with 28. Head coach Brian Levin is in his first season at Southern Miss. He secured career win No. 350 in Wednesday's sweep of Alcorn State.

Follow the Bears
For complete coverage of Mercer Softball please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerUSoftball (Twitter), /MUSoftball (Facebook) and @MercerUSoftball (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.