Following a 13-day layoff, ETSU hits the road for three conference games

MACON, Ga. (April 15, 2016) – Following a 13-day layoff, the ETSU softball team will hit the road this weekend for a three-game series at Mercer. The Bucs and Bears will face off in a doubleheader Saturday and close out the three-game set with a single game Sunday. Start times for both days are scheduled for 1 p.m. at Sikes Field.

Bullets on the Bucs

• ETSU won its first conference series of the season April 2-3 at Furman. The Bucs blasted six home runs in a doubleheader Saturday to win both games by scores of 7-4 and 9-4. However, Furman rebounded to win game three, 7-1.
• Junior Taylor Carter (Brazil, Ind.) made some history against the Paladins as she hit a pair of home runs to give her 20 for her career. With the pair of long balls, Carter became the first player in program history to hit 20 home runs and post 20 wins as a pitcher.
• Samantha Carpenter (Forest City, N.C.) also hit a pair of home runs at Furman. Carpenter has posted a career year in her final season as a Buc hitting .300 with four home runs and 11 RBI in 21 games.

Bucs by the numbers

9 – Nine of ETSU’s 12 wins this spring have come when it has scored the first run of the game. On the flip side, the Bucs are just 3-12 when their opponents score first.

.429 – Danielle Knoetze (San Diego, Calif.) is batting .429 with four home runs and eight RBI in ETSU’s 12 wins this season. In the team’s losses, however, Knoetze has been held to a .194 batting average with one home run and three RBI.  

.238 – The Bucs’ pitching staff has held opponents to a .238 batting average with runners in scoring position this season. Rebecca Wahrmund (Morrilton, Ark.) has paced these efforts holding teams to a .182 batting average in 41 at bats.

Scouting the Opponents

Mercer: The Bears enter this weekend’s series with an overall record of 18-24, including a 10-6 mark at home. Despite being six games under the .500 mark, Mercer could easily have a few more victories to its credit as seven of its losses have been by one run.

Offensively, Mercer is a team built on speed as it leads the conference with 64 stolen bases. Taylor Miller paces these efforts with 20 steals and also leads the team with a .410 batting average. Meghan Rud is not far behind Miller with 18 steals of her own. Additionally, Rud is one of five Bears to appear in every game this spring.

Mercer boasts a very balanced pitching staff as it has four pitchers with at least four wins this season. Maxine Rodriguez leads the Bears with six victories and also paces the staff with a 3.28 ERA, while Anna O’Neil has logged the most innings (81.1) and struck out a team-high 70 batters.  

Series Histories vs. Opponent

The Bears have held the edge in all-time series against the Bucs, 16-8. ETSU, which has a record of 1-8 in Macon, won the season series from the Bears last season winning a pair of one-run decisions by scores of 2-1 and 7-6.

Following options for both doubleheaders

All three games at Mercer will have live stats available and Sunday’s series finale will be streamed on SoCon Digital Network. The links can be found on the Bucs’ schedule page. Fans can also follow @ETSUSoftball on Twitter for in-game updates.

FOLLOW THE BUCS

• Receive live game updates and behind-the-scenes access of ETSU Softball by following @ETSUSoftball on Twitter or ETSU Softball on Facebook
• ETSU fans wanting to receive Buccaneer news, score updates, in-game promotions and much more sent to their mobile device can do so by signing up for “Buc Updates.” Click hereto sign up today!