Bears softball splits their double header against conference rival UNCG

Over the weekend, Bears softball split their double header against UNCG, a team that is sure to cause problems for the Bears in the Southern Conference tournament.

The Bears currently hold a 26-12 overall record for the season, while the Spartans are 30-8 overall. The two teams are currently tied 7-1 in conference play, making them the top two teams in the conference.

The first game saw the Bears fall to UNCG 0-7. The game was tied 0-0 for the first 4 innings until the bottom of the fifth when UNCG went on a 4 run rally on two hits and one error.

Things did not fare any better for the Bears in the sixth where the Spartans added three more runs off of two more hits and another Mercer error.

The standout performer of the first game was UNCG’s Jasmine Palmer, who managed to get two hits and three RBIs out of her four at bats. On the other side, Mercer struggled to put up numbers as they only managed to get three hits overall during the first game.

Head Coach Stephanie Defeo must have given the team a much needed pep talk after the first game because they came back much stronger in game two.

The Bears took an early lead in the top of the first. Catcher Megan Lane hit a two-run homer, the only home run of the day, to bring in Lauren Sanchez. This hit effectively sealed the deal for Mercer’s victory, though it couldn’t have been possible without shutout pitching from Stella Preston.

Preston kept the Spartans from getting on base with only three walks and three hits against her.

To add to that, Preston racked up seven strikeouts during the course of the game. For Preston, this is her eighth win of the season and also brought her ERA down to 1.99.

Later in the top of the seventh, Sanchez hit an RBI single bringing in Megan Rud, bringing the game to its final 3-0 score.

The Bears will rest this week until Saturday when the Bears are traveling to Athens to face off against the Bulldogs in a three game series.

UGA is currently 35-5 overall this season and should provide a good opportunity for the Bears to gauge how they need to adjust for the rest of the season leading up to the SoCon tournament.

Last year when the two teams met up, the Bulldogs left the Bears 3-12 at the end of the game.