Mercer Toughs Out Two More Wins At Heart Of Georgia Classic

Saturday, February 7

Macon, Ga.

3 p.m.

Mercer University

3-0

Evansville

1-3

Evansville

Mercer

Mercer Toughs Out Two More Wins At Heart Of Georgia Classic

2/7/2026 9:22:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

MACON – Late-inning heroics continued to be the norm for the Mercer softball team on Saturday at the Heart of Georgia Classic as the Bears registered their first 4-0 start in eight years with victories over both Evansville and Maine.

Mercer (4-0) broke a 2-2 tie with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to fuel a 4-2 victory over Evansville (1-3) in their Saturday opener, and then scored four runs in the seventh and eighth innings to key an 8-7 walk-off win over Maine (1-3) in the nightcap.

SUMMARY
GAME 1 FINAL	Mercer 4, Evansville 2
PITCHERS	WP: Grace Roark (2-0) LP: Alexis Tucker (0-1)

GAME 2 FINAL	Mercer 8, Maine 7 (8 Innings)
PITCHERS	WP: Grace Jones (1-0) LP: Kyla Brogan (0-1)

RECORDS	Mercer 4-0; Evansville 1-3; Maine 1-3

KEY INNINGS (VS. EVANSVILLE)
TOP 5	Emma McDonald drew a 1-out walk to get something started for the Purple Aces, moved to second on an ill-timed wild pitch and then scored the game-tying run on Taylor Howe's run-scoring double to centerfield.
BOT 5	Jessie Taylor hit a 1-out single to score Grace Jones (walk) and put the Bears ahead for good, but Mercer loaded the bases with its next two at-bats and pushed across a go-ahead run on Isabella Fernandez's infield single down the third base line.

KEY INNINGS (VS. MAINE)
TOP 6	Keira Inman hit a leadoff homer to give the Black Bears their second lead of the evening and then threatened to rally for another by getting Morgan Pool aboard a few pitches later. Grace Jones came on in relief to shut it down, however, retiring the next three batters in order, including two via strikeout.
BOT 7	Mercer put a pair of runners into scoring position on Daniella Monaco's leadoff single and Olivia Lenzen's one-out double, and then pushed across the tying run on Jessie Taylor's single through the left side.
BOT 8	Down by a pair of runs with the international tiebreaker rule in effect, Mercer loaded the bases with its first two at-bats, and pulled to within a lone run on Avery Barton's single to the left side. The hosts forced the game-tying run when Daniella Monaco absorbed a bean ball, and then walked it off on a run-scoring single through the right side off of the bat of Grace Jones.

MU LEADERS (GAME 1)	UE LEADERS (GAME 1)
Jessie Taylor 2-3, RBI, 2 R Megan Loughren 1-1, HR, 2 BB Rachel Sysum 2-3 Grace Roark 7.0 IP, ER, 2 K	Taylor Howe 3-3, 2B, RBI Morgan Adams 2-3 Emma McDonald 1-2, BB, R Keghan Pye 1-2

MU LEADERS (GAME 2)	UM LEADERS (GAME 2)
Avery Barton 2-5, HR, 2 RBI Isabella Fernandez 3-3, RBI, 2-2 SB Grace Jones 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI Meredith Wayland 1-1, 3 BB	Eviana Robles 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI Morgan Pool 2-3, BB, RBI, R Anna Carlson 2-5, 2B, RBI Keira Inman 1-1, HR, 2 BB, 2 R

UP NEXT
The Bears will close out opening-weekend action at the Heart of Georgia Classic on Sunday when they rematch with North Carolina A&T (2-2) at Sikes Field. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

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