The Bears came into their previous four games, one against Kennesaw State and three against the University of North Carolina Greensboro, with a 7-20 record and lost all four to fall to 7-24.
Kennesaw State
The Bears played KSU on March 23 for the first time this season and lost to the Owls 7-6. It was a back-and-forth affair with both teams leading at different parts of the game.
Mercer opened the scoring in the first inning by loading the bases off an error, a single, and a walk. Grace Prom came up to bat and forced a walk, curating an RBI for the Bears to go up 1-0. Despite having the bases loaded, the Bears couldn't capitalize as Tori Hedgecock flew out to end the inning.
Kennesaw quickly fired back in the second inning, reaching base with a single and a hit-by-pitch. They then scored two runs off a single. Down 2-1, the Bears didn't score again until the third inning. Diamond Williams hit a two-run homer just after Annie Potter's single to bring the score back in the Bears' favor 3-2. Mercer continued their onslaught with an RBI double from Elisa Rosado and a two-RBI single from Rebeca Laudino.
The Bears led 6-2 heading into the fourth inning, but they didn't score again for the rest of the game. Kennesaw scored off of a home run in the fifth inning to bring the score to 6-3. They then scored two more runs in the sixth to inch closer with a 6-5 score. Then, in the top of the seventh, KSU player Pacy Villa hit a two-run homer to push the Owls to a 7-6 win.
UNCG
The Bears traveled to South Carolina to play UNCG on March 26 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and on March 27 at 1 p.m. They lost all three games by double digits and scored only nine runs across all three games compared to 46 from UNCG.
The first game started about as bad as it could have. UNCG scored eight runs in the first inning including a three-RBI home run, a solo home run, two single RBI doubles and an RBI sacrifice fly. The situation didn't improve as the Spartans hit another home run in the second to bring the score to 9-0. The Bears finally scored in the third from an RBI single off Kenlie Harvey's bat. UNCG, however, continued to pour it on with a two-RBI home run, an RBI single and a three-RBI home run to go up 15-1. The Bears managed scores from Potter and Williams in the fourth but lost the game 15-4.
The second game was closer, but not by much. The Spartans went up again early in the first two innings, scoring six runs unanswered. Potter answered back with a two-RBI single in the third but UNCG scored again to lead 7-2 going into the fourth. The Spartans scored five more runs in the fourth and led 12-2 heading into the fifth. Mercer managed two more RBIs in the fifth inning from Prom and Williams but fell 12-4.
The third game was the worst loss yet, ending with a 19-1 UNCG win. The Bears gave up eight home runs between the first and the fourth inning for a total of 18 runs. The only single run came in the first inning for a total of 19 runs by the end of the fourth. The Bears' Alyssa Woods scored the only run for the Bears and Mercer fell 19-1.
The Bears return home to Skies Field to play Florida A&M on Wednesday.
Keith Holmes Jr. ‘22 is a journalism and creative writing double major who has worked with The Cluster as general staff since his Sophomore year. Keith has received Best in SNO awards for his sports articles along with years of work at Mercer’s ESPN3 branch. Keith spends his free time playing video games and writing fiction around campus.
