Bears Head to Athens for Bulldog Classic

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer softball team is headed to Athens this weekend for UGA's Bulldog Classic.

The Bears will open its five-game set against UAB on Friday before a doubleheader against Charleston Southern on Saturday. Mercer closes out the tournament against the host Bulldogs for a twin bill on Sunday.

TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK
Date: Friday, March 5 – Sunday, March 7
Location: Athens, Ga. | Jack Turner Stadium
Teams: Mercer (5-6), Charleston Southern (1-3), #19 Georgia (10-2), UAB (8-5)
Tournament Central: GeorgiaDogs.com
Twitter Updates: @MercerUSoftball

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, March 5
UAB vs. Mercer, 3 p.m. (Live Stats)

Saturday, March 6
Charleston Southern vs. Mercer, 10 a.m. (Live Stats)
Charleston Southern vs. Mercer, 12:30 p.m. (Live Stats)

Sunday, Feb. 21
Mercer at #19 Georgia, 3 p.m. (Live Stats) (Video)
Mercer at #19 Georgia, 5:30 p.m. (E (Live Stats) (Video)

MERCER QUICK HITS

The bears are 19th in the nation in stolen bases per game averaging 2.09 steals per game.
Sophomore infielder Kylie Helm has a team-high batting average of .400.
Pitcher Madi Joice is a perfect 2-0 and has a team-best 2.85 ERA.
Elisa Rosado has a team-high of 8 runs scored this season.

SCOUTING UAB
UAB comes into Athens with an 8-5 record and is riding a four-game winning streak. The Blazers hosted the UAB Softball Invite last weekend and picked up two wins over Eastern Illinois while added victories over Nicholls State and Alabama State. Sam Bean owns a team-best .382 batting average (13-for-34) as the team's leading hitter. She has collected two doubles, eight RBI and seven runs scored through the first 13 games. Analyse Petree and Sierra Frazier have powered the team's offense with two home runs apiece. Petree also leads UAB in RBI (9) and runs scored (10). Parker Conrad owns a 1.21 ERA through 17.1 innings of work, allowing just eight hits while fanning 24. Jaycee Cook has tossed 16.1 innings on the year and owns a 1.29 ERA with 13 strikeouts. Both pitchers are 2-0 heading into Friday's matchup.

SCOUTING CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
Charleston Southern enters the tournament with a 1-3 record after opening its season against Cleveland State and Eastern Kentucky on Feb. 20-21. The Bucs lone win came in the night cap against Cleveland State when they captured a 2-1 victory. CSU's offense is powered by Emily Crosby and Ashley Meckley. Crosby, who is hitting a team-best .538 (7-for-13) has a team-high seven hits and four runs scored while recording a triple and two home runs. Meckley is second on the team in average at .462 (6-for-13) with two doubles and two home runs. Meckley has also driven in a team-high five RBI. In the circle, Alyssa Heinrich owns a team-low 2.33 ERA. Holly Clark has shouldered the majority of the innings for the Bucs, throwing 12.2 innings on the young season. Her ERA is 3.87 and she has struck out a team-best 10 hitters.

SCOUTING GEORGIA
The 19th-ranked Bulldogs are 10-2 on the year, including a 7-2 mark at Jack Turner Stadium. Georgia has won nine of its last 10 games, including the last seven contests. Lacey Fincher leads UGA with an impressive .516 average (16-for-31) with two doubles and six home runs. Fincher has driven in a team-high 15 RBI while scoring nine runs. Sydney Kuma is keeping pace with Fincher with six home runs of her own while plating 14 runs and scoring 14 herself. In the circle, Mary Wilson Avant has thrown a team-high 36.0 innings, owning a spotless 6-0 record with a 1.36 ERA. She has allowed 24 hits on the year while racking up 58 strikeouts.

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.

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Players Mentioned

Kylie Helm

Madi Joice

Elisa Rosado

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