GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) softball team enters the 2021 Southern Conference tournament on a roll. The Spartans closed the regular season by winning 13 of their final 14 games.
The top-seeded Spartans open the conference tournament against No. 4 Mercer, the only team to slow down the UNCG juggernaut. Mercer edged UNCG, 2-1, in a game in which the Spartans had a two-run homer nullified because of a lineup snafu. UNCG won its final five games of the season including a dominating sweep of Western Carolina this past weekend.
Second-seeded Western Carolina meets third-seeded Chattanooga, the reigning conference tournament champions. Action starts Thursday, May 13 at the UNCG Softball Stadium.
For the season, UNCG is ranked sixth in the country in home runs per game (1.78). The Spartans have hit 80 homers after hitting eight in three games against Western Carolina. UNCG has hit at least four homers in a game eight times. The Spartans also hit a NCAA record-tying five homers in one inning against Elon on March 10.
UNCG's powerful offense is one of the nation's elite. The Spartans are 16th nationally in slugging percentage (.545), 18th in scoring (6.52), 22nd in on-base percentage (.399), and 30th in doubles per game (1.57).
During its last 14 games, UNCG has been on another level, outscoring teams 92-33 and hit 25 home runs. Amazingly, 50 of UNCG's 103 hits over its last 14 games have gone for extra bases. The Spartans have scored at least six runs in eight of their final 14 games.
While the offense has hit at a .283 clip, UNCG's pitching has been just as impressive in compiling a 1.64 earned run average.
Individually, UNCG senior centerfielder
Makenna Matthijs leads the SoCon in hits (56), runs (43) and RBIs (41). Senior designated player
Kayleigh Willis is second in the conference with 38 RBIs while junior catcher
Delaney Cumbie is second in runs scored with 33.
Willis has hit six of her 10 homers over UNCG's last 14 games. Of course two of them came against Mercer in her historic game in which she drove in seven runs.
The Spartans will have their hands full with Mercer.
The Bears and Spartans are tied for the top batting average in the Southern Conference at .277. UNCG has 333 hits while Mercer has 315 hits. The biggest difference is Mercer has 69 stolen bases compared to six for the Spartans. Two weeks ago, UNCG took two of three games from Mercer on the road. They were hard-fought contests.
UNCG has won seven straight home contests. This season, UNCG was 8-1 against the SoCon tournament field.
Western Carolina and Chattanooga split a pair of contests on March 28 in the rain-shortened series the first weekend of conference play.
Thursday's slate of games will begin at 12:30 p.m. and eventually conclude with a 5:30 p.m. contest. The remaining teams will compete in a pair of games on Friday, which are scheduled for 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Saturday will feature a championship game at 1 p.m., which may be followed by a 3 p.m. contest if the early game represents the first loss of the tournament for one of the teams. All action will be broadcast on ESPN+.
2021 SoCon Softball Championship
UNCG Softball Stadium/Greensboro, N.C.
Thursday, May 13
Game 1: No. 1 UNCG vs. No. 4 Mercer, 12:30 p.m., ESPN+
Game 2: No. 2 Western Carolina vs. No. 3 Chattanooga, 3 p.m., ESPN+
Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 5:30 p.m., ESPN+
Friday, May 14
Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 12:30 p.m., ESPN+
Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser, 3 p.m., ESPN+
Saturday, May 15
Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 1 p.m., ESPN+
Game 7: IF NECESSARY, 3 p.m., ESPN+
All times are Eastern.
