The Mercer Bears visit Blacksburg today for a doubleheader with the Hokies. First pitch is set for 1:00.

Mercer comes to Blacksburg with an overall record of 17-20 and an RPI of 191. After splitting a Wednesday doubleheader with Liberty, the Hokies have an overall record of 15-16, 9-3 in the ACC with an RPI of 43.

The Bears are led by Junior Taylor Miller who is hitting .413 and Sophomore Meghen Rud, who is hitting .336. Offensively, the Bears strength is team speed as they have stolen 59 bases this year, led by Miller with 20 and Rud with 18. The two of them typically bat 1-2 in the lineup so the Hokies will need to keep them off basepaths.

Mercer has a team ERA of 4.17 and share the workload between Junior Anna O’Neill (10 starts, 3.43 ERA), Junior Maxine Rodriguez (10 starts, 3.83 ERA) and Sophomore Jill McElderry (12 starts, 4.48 ERA). All of Mercer's 17 wins this season have come when scoring five runs or more.

On the Hokies side, Lauren Duff has extended her hitting streak to 12 games and leads the team with a batting average of .385. Fellow freshman Caitlyn Nolan is hitting at a .347 mark. Senior Maggie Tyler (12-9) has lowered her ERA to 2.92.

These are games that the Hokies should win and realistically must win if they are going to get serious about the post-season. NCAA rules require at large bids to have a .500 record and with some ACC challenges on the horizon, the Hokies need to go ahead pad the win column now.

The forecast calls for sunny skies with the temps in the mid 50s so it should be a pleasant day at Tech Softball Park.

Let's Go Hokies