Mercer Opens SoCon Play at Samford

Friday, March 26

Birmingham, Ala.

3 p.m. (ET)

Mercer University

Samford

Photo by: Mitch Robinson

3/25/2021 4:34:00 PM | Softball

The Bears will play their first SoCon series since May 4-5, 2019

By: Stephen Waldman

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer softball team returns to Southern Conference play for the first time since the 2019 season as the Bears head to Birmingham, Ala., to face Samford on Friday and Saturday.

This will be the first conference series for the Bears (12-12, 0-0 SoCon) in 692 days when they swept Furman on the road on May 4-5. Due to weather, the scheduled was altered to a doubleheader on Friday, starting at 3 p.m./5 p.m. (ET) before the series finale on Saturday at 2 p.m. (ET).

BEAR NECESSITIES
Teams: Mercer (12-12, 0-0 SoCon) vs. Samford (10-14, 0-0 SoCon)
Location: Birmingham, Ala. | Samford Softball Field
Friday (G1): March 26 | 3 p.m. (ET) | Live Stats
Friday (G2): March 26 | 5 p.m. (ET) | Live Stats
Saturday: March 27 | 2 p.m. (ET) | Watch | Live Stats
Twitter Updates: @MercerUSoftball

QUICK HITS

Mercer's 34 doubles are the second-most in the SoCon and ranks 39th nationally.
The Bears were picked second in the SoCon Preseason Poll and had five players land on the preseason all-conference teams.
Mercer leads the SoCon and ranks 43rd in the country in stolen bases per game at 1.71.
Mercer has three of the top-10 hitters in the SOCon in Micayla Rood (.348 avg.), Danielle Castleberry (.333 avg.) and Elisa Rosado (.329 avg.).
The trio are three of the top five hit leaders in the conference with Rosado (26) leading the way, followed by Castleberry (24) in second and Rood (23) tied for third.
Rosado also leads the SoCon in doubles (8) and triples (3) while ranking second in runs scored (20) and stolen bases (8). She currently ranks 13th in the NCAA in triples and 27th in doubles.
Freshman pitcher Madi Joice has been one of the bright spots for the Bears in the circle as she ranks third in the conference in ERA (2.91) and strikeouts looking (11), while allowing the fifth-lowest opponent batting average (.254).
Behind the dish, junior catcher Tori Ash has picked off a conference-high three runners.

SERIES HISTORY
Mercer owns a 32-43-1 all-time record against Samford, having squared off against the Bulldogs 18 times since joining the SoCon in 2015. The last time these two teams met was April 20, 2019, when they split a doubleheader in Birmingham. Mercer won the first game, 5-4 in eight innings, while Samford took game two, 7-4. In the series, Kenlie Harvey led the Bears by going 3-for-5 with a pair of home runs and a walk while driving in four RBI and scoring two runs.

SCOUTING SAMFORD
The Bulldogs enter SoCon play with a 10-14 record, most recently going 1-2 in a home-and-home series with Southern Miss on March 20-21. Samford lost both games of the doubleheader in Hattiesburg, Miss., 4-0 and 6-2, before claiming an 8-2 victory on its home field on Sunday. Amanda Briskin is one of three Bulldogs hitting over .300 on the season with a team-best .355 average (22-for-62). Ryan Brzozoski boasts the second-best average on the team at .328 (21-for-64), followed by Timberlyn Shurbutt's .315 average (23-for-73). Shurbutt has provided the pop in Samford's lineup with 10 extra-base hits on six doubles and four home runs, in addition to leading the squad with 14 RBI and 12 runs scored. Whitney Hinton has also showcased her power through the non-conference slate with three home runs, five doubles and 11 RBI.

In the circle, Emily Barnett and Abby Swaney have shouldered the workload as both have thrown more than 50 innings this season. Barnett owns a team-best 2.45 ERA while going 4-4 with three complete games and two saves. Swaney is 5-4 on the year with a 3.19 ERA as her 12 starts and 59.1 innings pitched are both team highs.

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.