Thursday, April 07, 2011

AUBURN, Ala. – Mercer softball head coach Mike Raynor picked up his first win against a ranked opponent on Wednesday night by defeating No. 22 Auburn, 3-0 at Jane B. Moore Field.

The fifth-year head coach has had several chances in recent years, but can now add taking down the No. 22 ranked team in the country to the number of impressive accomplishments in his time at Mercer. Raynor has had success against this Tiger team, and improved his record to 4-3 against Auburn since taking over in 2007.

The Bears (21-15, 4-6 A-Sun) fell in game two, 5-0 but walked away from the series with a 2-1 overall record against SEC opponents in 2010 (Mercer beat Mississippi St., 6-5 on February 25).

The win was also a first for the Bears in their last 12 tries against ranked opponents – dating back to 2006. Initial research also points out that this is Mercer's first win against a ranked opponent since 2000.

After four scoreless innings in game one, Mercer jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth as junior Kristin Marko lined a shot back up the middle for the Bears first hit of the game. Fellow junior Stephanie Canara came in to pinch run for Marko and promptly put herself in scoring position by taking second base on an Auburn passed ball.

The Bears next batter, freshman Randi Rea, reached on an Auburn error at short that allowed Canara to get to third. Rea would then steal second on an Auburn pick-off attempt on Canara and all of a sudden the Bears had two runners in scoring position.

With one out, sophomore Sarah Santana came up to the plate and laid down a well-placed sacrifice bunt that scored Canara for what amounted to be the game-winning run. The Bears' added a second run in the inning when senior Anna Johnson bunt singled and drove in Rea from third on the very next play.

In the sixth, Mercer added their final run on some opportunistic base running by freshman McKenzie Woody. Woody motored around second and ended up on third on a rather routine groundout to third by Kassie Bailey. The quick freshman from Fayetteville, Ga. again pounced on an opportunity and scored from third on an Auburn passed ball and put the Bears up 2-0 at the end of six.

The Bears scored their three runs on just three hits in game one.

Senior pitcher Kari Chambers pitched a masterful five and two-third innings giving up just five hits and a walk to record her 10th win of the season. Chambers was relieved in the bottom of the sixth as fellow senior Jenni Holtz, returned the favor for Sunday's game and finished off the shutout for her first save of the season.