Bears End Season in SoCon Semifinals

Friday, May 14

Greensboro, N.C.

3 p.m.

Mercer University

24-23

Western Carolina

27-25

Mercer

Western Carolina

Photo by: Southern Conference

5/14/2021 7:12:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Mercer ended the 2021 campaign with a 24-23 record

By: Stephen Waldman

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The four-seed Mercer softball team saw its season come to an end in the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament after falling to two-seed Western Carolina, 4-1, on Friday at the UNCG Softball Stadium.

The Bears ended the season with a record of 24-23.

Mercer had five hits in the game with senior Micayla Rood coming up with an RBI double. Redshirt senior Danielle Castleberry, senior Allie Jones, sophomore Elisa Rosado and freshman Adele Braun also recorded a hit on the game with Rosado scoring the team's lone run. Rosado was also one of two Bears to earn a walk, along with senior Bree Comer.

In the circle, sophomore Ashlyn Donner allowed just one hit in 2.1 innings of work, while freshman Madi Joice tossed 3.2 innings.

How It Happened
Donner was locked in early as she needed just 16 pitches to shut down the first six Catamounts she faced through the first two innings.

Castleberry got the offense going in the second by muscling a one-out single to left field. Bree Comer followed by drawing a walk after a 10-pitch battle with Jayme Eilers, and Elisa Rosado earned a free pass to load the bases. The WCU right-hander managed to get out of the inning unscathed, however, as she fanned the next two hitters to get out of the frame.

Donner allowed her first base runner when Savannah Baldwin led off the bottom of the third with a 12-pitch at-bat that resulted in a walk. After advancing to second on a stolen base, Baldwin scored on an RBI double by Addie Pate to put Western Carolina up, 1-0. A hit-by-pitch from Claudia Riddle and a Bailey Huneycutt walk loaded the bases for Kailey McNeill. The Bears made a change in the circle as Madi Joice came in to pitch, but the WCU three-hole hitter hit a sac fly to right center that made it a 2-0 game.

Mercer's defense came up huge in the sixth inning and shut down a potentially dangerous situation. The Catamounts earned a leadoff hit and stole second before Huneycutt sent a single through the right side. Rood took an aggressive approach to the ball and fired a perfect strike to Sophie Sumner at home plate to prevent Riddle from adding to the WCU lead. The Bears got out of the inning on the next pitch as Joice induced a ground out to Annie Potter at short that turned into a double play as Comer threw across the diamond to cut down the over-aggressive Huneycutt who tried to advance to third on the play.

The Bears threatened again in the top of the sixth inning as Jones got things started with a one-out single to right. Braun was up next and belted the first pitch she saw to deep left field, but the park was able to hold her to a single off the wall to put runners on first and second. Kylie Helm pinch hit two batters later and hit another deep shot for Mercer, but Jeralynn Wells was able to run the fly ball down on the warning track for the third out.

Western Carolina doubled its advantage in the home half of the frame as Pate drew a bases-loaded walk and Riley Lambert plated Lindsay Perillo on a fielder's choice.

Mercer continued to fight in the seventh inning as Rosado pulled a single through the right side to lead off the inning. The Plano, Texas, native aggressively advanced to second on a fly ball to center before Rood sprayed an RBI double to the gap in left-center field. The Bears' comeback bid fell short, however, as they dropped a 4-1 decision.

Notables

» Jones and Braun earned a spot on the All-SoCon Tournament Team following Saturday's championship game.
» Jones became the fifth player in program history to steal 50 bases in her career.
» Jones swiped her SoCon-leading 20th base of the season.
» Rood and Castleberry finished tied for the team lead in batting average at .333.
» Castleberry finished the season as the Bears' leader in hits with 47, while Rood followed closely behind with 45.
» Rood tallied her 13th career double.
» Rood closes out her career ranked seventh in program history in runs scored (113) and stolen bases (41) and 10th in batting average (.315).
» Castleberry ended ranked second in hit-by-pitches (40), seventh in batting average (.331), ninth in hits (174) and 10th in doubles (27).
» Castleberry finished with 174 base hits and 99 runs scored in her career.
» Castleberry and Jones were the only players to start every game for the Bears in 2021.
» Castleberry was one of the toughest players to strike out in the country, going down only six times in 141 at-bats.
» Braun recorded the 24th hit of her first collegiate season.
» Comer drew her team-leading 21st walk of the year.
» Rosado collected her 38th hit of the season and scored her 27th run.
» Potter led all Mercer freshmen with 31 hits on the year.
» Donner made her 25th appearance in the circle for the Bears, earning her 20th start of the year.

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.