Softball
Seniors for Mercer's softball team were celebrated this past week before the last game of the three-game series against Western Carolina University. The players celebrated were catcher Lillian Wilkerson, pitcher Madi Wicker, outfielder Sydney Harris, infielder Emma Dorval, outfielder Laura Vigna, infielder Tori Hegdecock, pitcher Hannah Pitts and pitcher Katheryn Rearley.
Before the series against the Catmounts, the Bears traveled to Statesboro, Ga. to take on Georgia Southern in a 4-2 win. Mercer struck first in the top of the first inning against the Eagles, and kept the game scoreless until Southern tied it in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Eagles took the lead with a run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Bears tacked on three runs in the top of the fifth to take the win away from home.
Hannah Rivers ‘28 and Hallie Langford ‘25 both scored a run during the game while Parris Wiggs ‘26 scored the other two points. The rotating pitchers were Graces Jones ‘28 and Grace Taylor ‘26.
The Bears swept Western Carolina in the three-game series, winning the first game 4-2, the second, 3-2 and on senior day, 12-4, in a five-inning shutout. Hegdecock and KiKi Daniels ‘28 both hit home runs in the latter game, along with scoring two runs. Jones crossed home plate a career-high three times in the game.
While the Catamounts kept the game close through the first three innings - the teams were tied 4-4 in the middle of the third inning - the Bears' offense padded the scoreboard eight runs in the next three innings before the game was called in the fifth inning.
Mercer has now won their last four games and are 26-22 on the season while sitting in the No. 5 spot in the Southern Conference. There are two three-game series left until the SoCon tournament in May.
Baseball
Mercer baseball dropped a three-game series to East Tennessee State University this past week after claiming the first game on Thursday. The Bears are now 25-17 on the season, and No. 4 in the conference with a 6-6 record against SoCon opponents.
During the first game of the series, the Bears struck first in the bottom of the first with a Ty Dalley '27 home run, and again in the fourth inning as Bradley Frye '25 drove in Brant Baughcum '26. While the Buccaneers scored once in the top of the fifth inning, Drew Johnson '26 answered with a home run of his own in the bottom of the same inning. Mercer scored twice more in the bottom of the eighth inning to finish the game, 5-1.
The first game's offensive spark was soon gone, however, as Mercer was blanked in the second game, 11-0. Right-handed pitcher Jeb Johnson '25 struggled against ETSU from the start, allowing six runs in two innings of work. In his last 15 innings pitched, Johnson has allowed 15 earned runs. On the other side of the ball, only one Mercer player recorded a hit against the Buccaneers' Jace Hyde.
The Bears dropped the final game of the series, 5-4. In a back-and-forth game, Mercer and ETSU traded the lead a couple times before holding a one-run advantage late in the game. A double with two outs in the eighth drove home two Buccaneers, who held the lead through the end of the game. The Bears lost the three-game series last year to ETSU, and they were eliminated by the Buccaneers last year in the SoCon tournament.
The team has 14 more games left in the season until the SoCon tournament starting on May 20.
Nevaeh Wilson '28 is majoring in Journalism and minoring in Film Studies. She has been writing for The Cluster since her freshman year, and has worked for Mercer's ESPN studio. She enjoys watching college and professional sporting events.
