Bears Use Hot Bats To Rout Samford In Series Finale

Sunday, March 23

Birmingham, Ala.

2 p.m.

Mercer University

Samford

Bears Use Hot Bats To Rout Samford In Series Finale

3/23/2025 5:05:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – KiKi Daniels, Grace Jones and Hallie Langford all hit home runs as visiting Mercer tacked up crooked numbers in three different frames on the way to a 12-5 rout of Samford in Sunday's Southern Conference series finale.

The decision snapped a four-game skid in the series for the Bears (17-16, 1-2 SoCon) who registered their most lopsided win over the Bulldogs since an 11-3 triumph on April 1, 1988. The setback marked just the second home loss of the season for Samford (20-13, 2-1) who eked out a pair of 1-run wins over MU on Saturday.

Grace Roark (4-4) struck out one across two innings of hitless relief to pick up the win for the Orange & Black. Grace Taylor struck out three over the last three innings of the afternoon to notch the save.

GAME SUMMARY
FINAL	Mercer 12, Samford 5
PITCHERS	WP: Grace Roark (4-4) LP: Karley Fuller (0-2) Save: Grace Taylor (1)
RECORDS	Mercer 17-16 (1-2 SoCon); Samford 20-13 (2-1 SoCon)

KEY INNINGS
TOP 2	Mercer loaded the bases with its first four at-bats in the second, then took the lead for good on Tori Hedgecock's deep fly ball to centerfield that plated Hallie Langford from 60 feet away. Grace Jones followed with a 3-run blast to straightaway centerfield to give the visitors a 5-1 advantage.
TOP 5	The Bears padded their lead out to four runs, 6-2 on a fielder's choice RBI off of the bat of Taylor Rogers, and KiKi Daniels followed with a 3-run homer to left field that made it a 9-2 contest.
TOP 7	KiKi Daniels drew a leadoff bean ball to climb aboard for Mercer and Hannah Rivers doubled two batters later to set the table for junior Hallie Langford who leaned into a 1-ball offering from Samford reliever Sara Bond and deposited the pitch over the wall in right field.

MU LEADERS	SAM LEADERS
Grace Jones 2-3, BB, HR, 4 RBI KiKi Daniels 1-3, HBP, HR, 3 RBI Hallie Langford 1-4, HBP, HR, 3 R Parris Wiggs 0-2, 3 BB, R	Olivia Shaw 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI Ella Nelson 2-3, HR, 2 R Joi Hubbard 1-2, HBP, BB, 2 R McKayla Cothran 1-4, RBI

UP NEXT
Mercer will close out a 5-game road trip on Tuesday when it heads to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech (18-12) at Shirley Clements Mewborn Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

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