Saturday, April 15, 2006

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 15, 2006) - Mercer picked up a pair of victories on Saturday, downing ETSU, 7-4, and 12-5, in Atlantic Sun softball action at Metro-Kiwanis Park.  The Bears fended off a late ETSU charge in game one, outlasting the Lady Bucs in eight innings.  Mercer carried the momentum into game two, riding a six-run second inning to victory.

Mercer improves to 22-20, 8-2 in the A-Sun with the doubleheader sweep, while the Lady Bucs, unable to shake a 10-game losing skid, fall to 13-32, 2-10 in conference play.

Down 4-1 going into the bottom of the fourth, the Lady Bucs engineered a two-run surge, starting with back-to-back singles from freshman Mary Catherine Vercoe (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) and sophomore Amanda Haverman (Kirkwood, Mo.).

Freshman Jessie Hackworth (Clinton, Tenn.) then grounded out, knocking in pinch runner Tori Gast (Germantown, Tenn.).  Senior Jess Lonsinger sent a single through right side to score pinch runner Laura Davies (Hixson, Tenn.).

Janine Sprague (Hillsborough, Tenn.) scored the tying run in the fifth, coming around on another single from Vercoe.

The teams remained locked at four until the top of the eighth when Mercer's Katie Rosentreter blasted a two-out, RBI single to left field.  Jamie Madruga would point a stamp on the win, sending a two-run shot over the left-field fence.   

Rosentreter (13-9) went the distance in the win, allowing eight hits and three earned runs, while striking out eight. 

Courtney Jenkins (Knoxville, Tenn.) took the loss to fall to 4-12.  The senior gave up 10 hits and six earned runs in 5 1/3 innings of work.  Brittany Lehrschall (Leland, N.C.) threw 2 2/3 innings in middle relief, recording one hit and two strikeouts.

After scoring one run in the first inning of game two, Mercer unleashed a six run, three hit second, all coming after a two-out error by ETSU.  Sarah Harding highlighted the inning for the Bears, blasting a three-run long ball down the left-field line.

ETSU would tack on a run in the third, and two more in the fourth behind a solo shot from Stephanie Cope (Maryville, Tenn.), her second of the season. Stephanie Gaynord (Manassas, Va.) scored the second run of fourth, legging out a triple to right and scoring on a throwing error by the Mercer right fielder.

The Lady Bucs plated solo scores in the sixth and seventh, but were unable to catch the Bears, who once again capped the win with a homerun in the last inning, this time a three-run blast from Magruda.  Magruda recorded an outstanding 4-for-4 performance in game two, and went 7-for-8 with nine RBI on the day.

Rosentreter (14-9) got her second win of the day in relief, while Lehrschall was tagged with the loss to fall to 3-8  The Bears peppered 14 hits on the game, followed by the Lady Bucs with 11.  Hackworth led ETSU at the plate in game two, going 3-for-4.  Gaynord and Briana Knight (Brier, Wash.) added two a piece.

The Lady Bucs are set to meet ACC foe Virginia Tech on Tuesday, April 18.  The first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m., in Bristol, Tenn.