Softball (13-13, 1-0 Southern Conference) began play this weekend with a series-opening, 6-4 win against Samford University (9-21, 0-1 SoCon) at Sikes Field on Saturday, March 21. The series will continue today with the second part of the double header and the final game against the Bulldogs at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Saturday's opening win came after a first inning in which the two teams combined to score seven runs. Pitcher Grace Jones '28 started the game for the Bears and allowed one earned run over five innings. Last year's conference all-freshman selection gave up an error in the top of the first inning to allow the first run of the game, but struck out six batters in the game while going 1-for-2 from the batters' box.
Catcher Olivia Lenzen '27 hit her third home run of the year to retake the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Lenzen leads the team in batting percentage with .404 and in getting on base with a .500 OBP. The homer was enough to give Mercer the edge at the end of the game, and Katheryn Rearley '26 recorded her first save of the game in two innings of work.
The Bears offense this season has been explosive from the very first game against Evansville University. In its opening day matchup, the Bears hit six homers. They have continued to showcase explosiveness throughout the season, finishing five additional games with two or more homers for a SoCon-leading total of 27 homers despite having the second-fewest plate appearances.
Mercer shortstop Avery Barton ‘26, who was named SoCon Player of the Week last week, leads the the entire SoCon in home runs with nine. Lenzen also has 22 hits, eight runs and seven RBIs this season.
After playing a handful of top-ranked SEC schools, the Bears' pitching statistics have taken a beating. Mercer has taken on No. 1 University of Tennessee and No. 22 University of Mississippi twice, giving up 46 runs over those three games in the late-February Green & Gold Classic. The Bears, led by pitchers Grace Roark ‘27, Madison Starr ‘27 and Jones, rank second-to-last in WHIP in the conference.
Jones leads the Bears with 30 strikeouts this season, and Roark leads with a 5.55 ERA, 17th in the SoCon. Starr was named SoCon Pitcher of the Week in February after holding North Carolina A&T batters to a .111 batting average in five innings, holds an ERA of 6.56 and a WHIP of 2.56.
The Bears' infield has also struggled this year, ranking second-to-last in the SoCon in fielding percentage as the Bears have given up more than eight runs in 10 of their 13 losses.
As conference play begins, Mercer is chasing Wofford College (20-4), Western Carolina University (16-9), the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (19-12) and East Tennessee State University (12-8) for higher regular season ranks. The Bears have showed that they can win at any seed, though, as the defending SoCon tournament champions won the conference as a No. 5-seed.
Following the Samford series, Mercer will play against the Terriers, beginning Saturday, March 28 in Sikes Field.
