Bears Hit Five Dingers, Rout Georgia State In Road Opener

Wednesday, February 14

Atlanta, Ga.

5 p.m.

Mercer University

4-1

Georgia State

2-4

Mercer

Georgia State

Bears Hit Five Dingers, Rout Georgia State In Road Opener

2/14/2024 9:36:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

ATLANTA – The Mercer softball team clubbed five home runs, included back-to-back-to-back long balls in a big fourth inning, to fuel a 10-2 mercy-rule rout of Georgia State on Wednesday evening at the Bob Heck Softball Complex.

The result gave Mercer (4-1) its first win in a road opener in more than a decade (2013), while also giving the Bears their fourth victory in the last five outings against their in-state rivals. The Panthers (2-4) have now dropped three-straight contests.

Five different Bears registered home runs in the contest, including sophomore Avery Barton who homered twice and drove in four runs on a 2-for-4 night at the plate. Junior Katheryn Rearley (1-0) struck out four and surrendered a lone first-inning run to corral her first win of the season in the circle.

GAME SUMMARY
FINAL	Mercer 10, Georgia State 2 (5 Innings)
PITCHERS	WP: Katheryn Rearley (1-0) LP: Makayla Stephens (0-1)
RECORDS	Mercer (4-1); Georgia State (2-4)

KEY INNINGS
BOT 2	Georgia State tacked up three-straight one-out singles and, despite getting denied on a rundown on the third-base line, managed to extend its lead out to 2-0 on a costly wild pitch.
TOP 3	Mercer saw its first two hitters go down quietly in the third, but Tori Hedgecock smacked a 3-and-1 offering from Makayla Stephens inside the left field foul pole. Kassidy Moore followed with a 4-pitch walk to set the table for a 2-run blast from Avery Barton that put the Bears ahead for good.
TOP 4	Laura Vigna and Hallie Langford hit consecutive one-out doubles to push the lead out to a pair of runs, and the Bears erupted after that. Tori Hedgecock drew a 5-pitch walk ahead of a 3-run jack from Kassidy Moore, but Avery Barton and Lillian Wilkerson followed with solo shots of their own to cap the six-run frame.

MU LEADERS	GSU LEADERS
Avery Barton 2-3, 2 HR, 4 RBI Kassidy Moore 2-3, HR, 3 RBI Lillian Wilkerson 1-1, BB, HBP, HR Tori Hedgecock 1-3, HR, 2 R	Jaycee Goodwin 2-2, HBP, 2B, RBI Payton Nicholson 2-2 Maya Montague 1-2, R Chloe Middlebrooks 1-2, R

UP NEXT
The Bears will trek to Jacksonville, Fla., this weekend to take part in the JU/UNF Invitational. Saturday's games, which will be played on the campus of Jacksonville University, will pit Mercer against both Jacksonville (2-2) and UNC Wilmington (3-2). The Bears will make the short trip across town on Sunday to take on both Notre Dame (3-2) and North Florida (3-1) on the UNF campus.

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