With the 2024 baseball and softball seasons coming up, here is a rundown of what you can expect for the following seasons.
Mercer Baseball
The Mercer Bears will have their first baseball game at home on Feb. 16, vs Toledo at 6 pm. The three-game series marks the first time Mercer will play the Rockets since 2005. Later in the season, the Bears will face off against SEC opponent University of Georgia on March 26 and ACC foe Florida State University on April 16. The SoCon Championship will occur from May 21 to May 26 in Greenville, South Carolina.
Last season, the Bears finished 33-25 overall and 13-8 in the SoCon. They made it to the SoCon Championship elimination round but were knocked out by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, losing 9-5. The Bears last won a SoCon title in 2019.
Four Bears were named to the Preseason All-Conference 1st Team: Jackson Cherry '25, Colton Cosper '25, Ty Dalley '26 and Wes Franklin '24. Moreover, the Bear’s pitcher, Garrett Lambert '27, was tabbed as the SoCon Freshman Preseason Player of The Year. The preseason coaches' SoCon baseball preseason poll picked Mercer to finish second.
Mercer Softball
Mercer’s softball team has already started their season strong, going 3-1. Between two two-game series, Mercer split the series against Dayton University and swept Drexel University. The Bears' next game will be against Georgia State University on Feb. 14 in Atlanta. The SoCon Championship for softball will occur May 8-11 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Mercer will have 23 home games this season and will play in 5 early-season tournaments.
Looking ahead at the upcoming schedule, the Bears will go toe-to-toe with ACC opponent Clemson University on March 8, and then visit the University of Florida on March 15 and Georgia on April 3. So far, Tori Hedgecock '25 is currently leading the Bears with a batting average of 0.625 in eight at-bats. Grace Roark '27 started her college career allowing just three hits and no runs allowed in five innings pitched while striking out four batters.
Last season, the team was just shy of the championship round as they were eliminated by Samford in a close 2-1 loss. The Bears finished the season 20-37 and 8-10 in the SoCon.
The SoCon preseason coaches poll picked the Bears to finish third in the conference, and Grace Taylor '26 was awarded the Southern Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
