Saturday, April 20
Chattanooga, Tenn.
1 p.m.
Mercer University
at
Chattanooga
Bears Trek To SoCon-Leading Chattanooga For Weekend Set
4/19/2024 7:57:00 PM | Softball
MACON – The Mercer softball team will open up a six-game Southern Conference road trip on Saturday and Sunday when the Bears head to southeast Tennessee to take on league-leading Chattanooga in a weekend series at Frost Stadium.
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Fans unable to make the trip to Chattanooga can still follow the games in progress for free via live statistics links provided by the UTC athletics department. All three games of the series are also scheduled to be streamed live on ESPN+.
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The Bears (19-22, 6-3 SoCon) trail the Mocs by just a lone game in the league regular season standings, and will look to right their ship after dropping a heartbreaker to Georgia Southern at home on Wednesday. The Orange & Black captured their first three SoCon series for the first time in program history, including a series sweep of Furman two weeks ago, but dropped the series bookends to East Tennessee State last weekend at Sikes Field.
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Mercer heads into the weekend still sporting the SoCon's top defensive ball club, while also riding a surge from the circle as well. The Bears have surrendered just 5.9 hits per game over their last seven outings, while also posting a 2.29 team earned run average over that span as well. MU has also held opponents to three or less runs in eight of its last 13 outings as well.
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Junior Emma Dorval is hitting better than .400 (33-for-82) since the beginning of March, including nine multiple-hit games, while senior Alyssa Woods has strong together a .351 (13-for-37) clip over her last 10 starts. Junior slugger Tori Hedgecock continues to pace the SoCon in six offensive statistical categories, including home runs (17) and RBI (48), while sophomore Avery Barton ranks second among league leaders with 36 runs driven in.
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Sophomore Grace Taylor (9-9, 3.43 ERA) has tallied wins in four of her last six appearances from the circle, while compiling a 2.68 ERA over the span. Redshirt sophomore Hannah Pitts has struck out 36 batters in her last 43-1/3 innings pitched.
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Fans unable to make the trip to Chattanooga can still follow the games in progress for free via live statistics links provided by the UTC athletics department. All three games of the series are also scheduled to be streamed live on ESPN+.
Â
The Bears (19-22, 6-3 SoCon) trail the Mocs by just a lone game in the league regular season standings, and will look to right their ship after dropping a heartbreaker to Georgia Southern at home on Wednesday. The Orange & Black captured their first three SoCon series for the first time in program history, including a series sweep of Furman two weeks ago, but dropped the series bookends to East Tennessee State last weekend at Sikes Field.
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Mercer heads into the weekend still sporting the SoCon's top defensive ball club, while also riding a surge from the circle as well. The Bears have surrendered just 5.9 hits per game over their last seven outings, while also posting a 2.29 team earned run average over that span as well. MU has also held opponents to three or less runs in eight of its last 13 outings as well.
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Junior Emma Dorval is hitting better than .400 (33-for-82) since the beginning of March, including nine multiple-hit games, while senior Alyssa Woods has strong together a .351 (13-for-37) clip over her last 10 starts. Junior slugger Tori Hedgecock continues to pace the SoCon in six offensive statistical categories, including home runs (17) and RBI (48), while sophomore Avery Barton ranks second among league leaders with 36 runs driven in.
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Sophomore Grace Taylor (9-9, 3.43 ERA) has tallied wins in four of her last six appearances from the circle, while compiling a 2.68 ERA over the span. Redshirt sophomore Hannah Pitts has struck out 36 batters in her last 43-1/3 innings pitched.
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| SERIES HISTORY |
| Chattanooga narrowly leads the all-time series with the Bears, 31-29, but Mercer has captured nine of the last 10 matchups and will ride a six-game series win streak into the weekend. MU has won the last three meetings at Frost Stadium as well. |
| SCOUTING THE MOCS |
| The Mocs (29-11, 9-3) have captured three of their last four contests, including a 10-2 mercy-rule victory at Lipscomb on Thursday. UTC opened SoCon play with seven-straight victories against league nemeses, but dropped the last two games of its weekend set against Wofford at home. Chattanooga rebounded with a series win at UNC Greensboro last weekend, winning each of the first two games of the set. Â UTC will carry NCAA Division I's 33rd-best team batting average (.317) into the weekend, while also sporting the nation's 30th-best on-base percentage (.400). The Mocs have scored nearly 5.2 runs per game through 40 outings in 2024, and have compiled double-digit hit attacks 14 times. No stranger to dramatic contests, Chattanooga has won 14 games this season by three or less runs. Junior outfielder Camryn Cernuto leads the squad in both batting average (.366) and runs scored (31), while also boasting a team-best 15 stolen bases in 18 attempts. Junior Olivia Lipari has amassed a team best 34 RBI on the campaign, but it is redshirt senior Kaili Phillips that carries the power in the lineup as evidenced by 10 homers and an impressive .758 slugging percentage. Â Sophomore Taylor Long (11-3, 2.19) and junior Alyssa Lavdis (7-4, 3.01) have been the 1-2 punch from the circle for UTC this season. Long ranks ninth, nationally, with 9.9 strikeouts per seven innings and has held opponents to a .184 batting average in 73-2/3 innings pitched. Lavdis has thrown a staff-high 76-2/3 innings in 2024, and has been a part of four combined shutouts. |
| UP NEXT FOR THE BEARS |
| Mercer will close out its six-game Southern Conference road trip next weekend (April 27-28) when it treks to western North Carolina to take on UNC Greensboro in a weekend set. |
| STAY CONNECTED |
| Follow Mercer Softball on Twitter and Instagram and "Like" Mercer Softball on Facebook. |
| SUPPORT THE BEARS |
| Fans can help support the Mercer athletics department by making a gift to the Mercer Athletic Foundation. To find out more information about the Mercer Athletic Foundation, visit SupportMAF.com or email maf@mercer.edu. |
Players Mentioned
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