Bears Top Florida A&M, Austin Peay At Heart Of Georgia Classic

Saturday, February 8

Macon, Ga.

1:30 p.m.

Mercer University

1-1

Florida A&M

0-3

Florida A&M

Mercer

Bears Top Florida A&M, Austin Peay At Heart Of Georgia Classic

2/8/2025 8:18:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

MACON – Mercer rallied behind a strong pitching debut from freshman Grace Jones to slip past Florida A&M in Saturday's opener, and then used Tori Hedgecock's go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to power past Austin Peay later in the afternoon, to fuel the Bears to a perfect day at the Heart of Georgia Classic.

The Bears (2-1) scored two runs in the first and fourth innings to register a 4-0 win over the Rattlers in the early matchup. Austin Peay (1-2) scored three runs in the fourth to storm out to a 7-4 lead on Saturday afternoon, but Mercer plated five runs in the sixth, including Hedgecock's go-ahead bomb, to fuel a 9-7 win.

SUMMARY
GAME 1 FINAL	Mercer 4, Florida A&M 2
PITCHERS	WP: Grace Jones (1-0) LP: Zoryana Hughes (0-2)

GAME 2 FINAL	Mercer 9, Austin Peay 7
PITCHERS	WP: Hannah Pitts (1-0) LP: Emberly Nichols (1-1)

RECORDS	Mercer 2-1 (0-0 SoCon); Florida A&M 0-3 (0-0 SWAC); Austin Peay 1-2 (0-0 ASUN)

KEY INNINGS (VS. FLORIDA A&M)
BOT 1	Hallie Langford and Tori Hedgecock both drew walks to climb aboard for the Bears, and freshman KiKi Daniels cashed in on her first collegiate hit – a 2-out single to left field that gave the hosts a 2-0 advantage.
BOT 4	The Bears utilized a pair of ill-timed errors to plate two insurance runs. KiKi Daniels reached on an error to lead off the frame, and later scored on an obstruction ruling. Fellow freshman Hannah Rivers drove in Emma Dorval with a 2-out single later in the frame to cap the scoring.

KEY INNINGS (VS. AUSTIN PEAY)
BOT 1	Emma Dorval and Grace Jones led off the home half of the first with consecutive singles, and Tori Hedgecock crushed Samantha Miener's first offering over the wall in right field to give the Bears an early 3-0 edge.
TOP 4	Austin Peay tacked up a 3-spot for the second-straight inning to storm ahead, 7-4. Kylie Campbell laced a 1-out single to centerfield to plate the first run of the frame, Maggie Daughrity scampered home on a costly throwing error and the Governors plated their final run of the frame on a wild pitch.
BOT 6	Two singles and a bean ball helped Mercer juice the bases with just one out showing, and Emma Dorval helped MU cut into its deficit with a sac fly to shallow centerfield. Grace Jones drew a walk moments later to load the bases once again, and Tori Hedgecock crushed a 1-and-1 offering from Emberly Nichols over the left field scoreboard to help the Bears surge ahead for good.

MU LEADERS (GAME 1)	FAMU LEADERS (GAME 1)
KiKi Daniels 1-3, 2 RBI Tori Hedgecock 0-1, 2 BB Hannah Rivers 1-2, RBI Grace Jones CG, 5 K	Jamison Townsend 2-4 Neriah Lee 1-2, BB, R Aniya Canty 1-3, RBI Keeleigh Spooner 1-2

MU LEADERS (GAME 2)	APSU LEADERS (GAME 2)
Tori Hedgecock 2-3, 2 HR, 7 RBI Emma Dorval 2-3, 2 RBI, R Grace Jones 1-3, BB, R Hannah Pitts 3.0 IP, H, 3 K	Kylie Campbell 2-4, RBI, 2 R Raylon Roach 2-3 Maggie Daughrity 1-3, BB, 2 R Sam Leski 1-4, RBI, R

UP NEXT
The Bears will close out their portion of round-robin tournament play at the Heart of Georgia Classic on Sunday when they rematch with Saint Joseph's in an 11 a.m. matchup at Sikes Field.

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