The Georgia Southern softball team will travel to Mercer University to take on the 2-3 Bears on Wednesday.

Coming off a wildly successful 33-19 season, the Bears are expected to be a serious contender in the race for the Southern Conference title. They were second seed going into the SoCon tournament last year.

Mercer played host to three teams this past weekend in the Mercer Invitational. They went 1-1 in their two matches with Rutgers University, 1-1 with Army, and lost big in the last game of the tournament to Jacksonville State 0-15. With these results, the Bears are currently 2-3.

This season, the Bears are returning several standout players including now sophomore Micayla Rood, who received the 2018 SoCon Freshman of the Year title, Megan Lane with the All-SoCon first team honor, and Stella Preston, an All-SoCon second team player.

GS is going into this game 4-2 after a successful Bash in the Boro tournament. Junior outfielder Mekhia Freeman is coming off of a strong weekend, with eight runs and nine hits. Senior infielder Hannah Farrell picked up five assists against Winthrop University, and multiple Eagles have hit their first home run of the season including junior outfielder Shelby Wilson, Farrell, senior shortstop Macy Coleman, and freshman first baseman Faith Shirley.

This game will be the first away game of the season for GS before the team returns for the Eagle Round Robin tournament, where they will take on four teams on Eagle Field.

Amanda Arnold, The George-Anne Sports Reporter, gasports@georgiasouthern.edu