Bears Hold Off Georgia State In Atlanta

Wednesday, March 12

Atlanta, Ga.

5 p.m.

Mercer University

14-12

Georgia State

8-18

Mercer

Georgia State

3/12/2025 8:10:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

ATLANTA – Tori Hedgecock hit the first of two home runs in the top of the fourth inning to give visiting Mercer a 7-2 lead, but the Bears had to hold off a late charge by Georgia State to top the Panthers, 8-6, on Wednesday evening at the Bob Heck Softball Complex.

It was the second-straight win for Mercer (14-12) who closed out a 12-game stretch away from home with Wednesday's outing, while also avenging a mid-February home loss to GSU as well. It was the ninth loss in the last 13 contests for the Panthers (8-18) who have dropped six of the last eight matchups with the Orange & Black.

Reliever Gabby Ellis (3-1) pitched two innings of relief to pick up the win for MU, while Grace Roark closed it out with three scoreless innings of relief to notch her second save of the season. Hedgecock ran her career multi-homer game tally out to six with Wednesday's performance, including three this season.

GAME SUMMARY
FINAL	Mercer 8, Georgia State 6
PITCHERS	WP: Gabby Ellis (4-1) LP: Sydney Boulware (2-7) Save: Roark (2)
RECORDS	Mercer 14-12 (0-0 SoCon); Georgia State 8-18 (0-0 Sun Belt)

KEY INNINGS
TOP 4	Hallie Langford doubled to lead off the fourth for the Bears, and Tori Hedgecock leaned into a 2-strike offering from reliever Lauren Brister two at-bats later to extend the lead out to 7-2.
BOT 4	Georgia State loaded the bases with its first four at-bats in the home half of the fourth, then used three more base hits and a free pass to plate four runs and whittle its deficit down to just a lone score.

MU LEADERS	GSU LEADERS
Taylor Rogers 2-3, BB, 2B, HR, 4 RBI Tori Hedgecock 2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI Hallie Langford 1-2, 2 BB, 2B, 2 R Grace Jones 1-2, BB, HBP, R	Lauren Brister 3-4, 2 RBI, R Goodwin 2-4, R Schroyer 2-4 Middlebrooks 1-3, BB, HR, 2 R

UP NEXT
The Bears will make a long-awaited return home this weekend when they host a three-game series with Binghamton (12-8) at Sikes Field. The squads will open up the set with a 4 p.m. doubleheader on Friday, and close out the series with an 11 a.m. contest on Saturday. Admission is free.

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