Bears Take Down B10 Rutgers at Bubly Invitational

Saturday, March 11

Gainesville, FL

11:00 AM

Mercer University

6-17

University of Florida

17-3

Mercer Softball

Florida

Bears Take Down B10 Rutgers at Bubly Invitational

3/11/2023 9:51:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Gainesville, FL – Mercer finished today with a 1-1 split with a big win over Rutgers University. The Bears concluded their second day at the Bubly Invitational at the University of Florida this afternoon.

"I'm proud of how we fought back after getting down early. I feel like we are much closer to success than our record shows. We have played really tough competition this week and will continue to keep the team focused on getting better with each rep," said Coach Fico. "Grace Taylor threw well! She managed the ups and downs much more effectively and stayed under control. She showed a ton of composure. Barton's HR was huge and I'm happy for her to see results from all of her hard work!"

How It Happened
#8 University of Florida
    Rebeca Laudino got on base due to a walk with Tori Hedgecock advancing her. A ground out and a flied out retired the Bears with one left stranded. The Gators quickly heated up with three hits on three runs to end the first leading 3-0. Three ground outs finished the Bears in the top of the second and they held UF with only one hit in the bottom.
The Gators served another three up and three down in the third and fourth and picked up three runs on five hits to finish the third, 6-0. UF homered to bring the final score to 8-0 in five innings.

Rutgers University
    The Scarlet Knights started off hot with a single and a homer to bring in two runs. They served two three up three downs to the Bears and led 2-0 at the top of the third. Grace Taylor slowed down Rutgers with two strikeouts and Mercer was able to hold till they took over in the bottom of the fourth. Laudino bunted to first to get the first Mercer run of the game. Kylie Helm doubled to advance Laudino and was brought home from a SAC RBI from Bailey Ledvina. A flied out retired the Bears with one left on base and they trailed 2-1 in the fourth.
    Mercer locked in and left two stranded at the top of the fifth. The Bears heated up with Avery Barton getting her first career home run. Parris Wiggs singled and was moved by Alyssa Woods and Laudino before coming home on a wild pitch. Mercer finished the fifth with two left on but leading 3-2. Nothing happened in the sixth and the Bears were able to hold to take the game, 3-2.

Up Next
    The Bears will have their last day at the Bubly Invitational in Gainesville, FL tomorrow, March 12. Mercer will face the University of Louisiana at 9:00 a.m. (orginal time was 9:30 a.m).

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.