GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) softball team travels to Macon, Georgia, this weekend to face The Southern Conference (SoCon) foe Mercer on Saturday and Sunday at Sikes Field in the Spartans' final regular season road series.

UNCG and Samford are currently tied for first, but the Spartans have the tie breaker over the Bulldogs after defeating them 2-1 in the three-game series on April 12 and 13 in Greensboro. Chattanooga is in third place with a 10-4 SoCon record, while Wofford is fourth at 9-6 and Mercer is fifth at 6-8 in conference play.

Following this weekend, UNCG will host Western Carolina on May 3 and 4 in the final regular season SoCon series.

Currently, the Spartans are 35-14 overall and 11-4 in the SoCon, while the Bears are 26-22 and 6-8 in the conference. UNCG has won the last five games and the last 10 of 12 games against Mercer in regular season.
 

 
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE SPARTANS

• UNCG recently defeated Longwood, 4-0, for the Spartans' sixth shutout of the season.
• Grace Loftin went 1-for-3 at the plate with one run scored, three RBI, a walk and a home run.
• With her 13^th homer of the season, she is now tied for fifth with Delaney Cumbie in the UNCG record book with 42 career home runs.
• Salem Ward tossed her sixth complete game of the season and ninth of her career, giving up five hits and striking out three batters.
• This was the third shutout of her career and season, bringing her career win total to 27.

RUNDOWN ON THE SPARTANS

• UNCG is nationally ranked in the top 25 in home runs (9^th/75), home runs per game (12^th/1.53), RBI (22nd/288) and slugging percentage (24th/.543).
• Kaylyn Belfield is leading the Spartans with a .426 batting average and has successfully stolen 12-of-14 bases.
• Loftin is leading the Spartans with 58 hits, swinging .384 at the plate in 49 games played with a team-high 49 RBI. She also paces the team with 13 doubles, three triples and 13 home runs.
• Nationally, she is 27th in total bases (116), 48^th in RBI, 64^th in slugging percentage (.768), 65th in doubles, 67th in home runs and 76th in hits.
• Shipley and Gardner are second on the team with 10 homers each. Michael and Chartrand each have eight homers, while Rylie Williams has seven home runs.
• Chartrand and Samantha Beck each have nine doubles and are second on the team.
• Along with Loftin, nine other Spartans have double-figure RBI, with all 10 totaling 20 or more. Chartrand is second on the team with 33 RBI and Shipley is third with 32 RBI.
• Chartrand leads the pitching staff with a 1.72 ERA and is second with 81 strikeouts. She is 10-5 when in the circle with six complete games and three saves in her 114.0 innings pitched.
• She has kept batters to a .202 batting clip in her 25 appearances and 18 game starts.
• Chartrand's ERA is nationally ranked 24th, while her 4.97 hits allowed per seven innings is 39th in the nation.
• Salem Ward is second on the pitching staff with a 2.68 ERA and 83 strikeouts. She has a 13-5 record this season with six complete games and three saves in 117.2 innings of work.
• Ward earned SoCon Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 17 after going 4-0 in the Spiro Invitational.
• Gardner earned SoCon Player of the Week, while Chartrand was tabbed SoCon Pitcher of the Week after the Spartans' 4-0 weekend at the CSU Round Robin.
• This season, the Spartans have walked off in six games: vs. Toledo (16-14), Iona (5-3), Fairfield (4-2), Radford (2-1), Wofford (2-1 and 9-8).
• The Spartans are leading the SoCon in eight categories, including home runs, home runs per game, RBI per game, RBI, scoring, slugging percentage, total runs and total sacrifice flies.
• Head Coach Janelle Breneman earned her 400^th win at the helm of the Spartans following a 7-2 win over Saint Francis on Feb. 16.
• UNCG was chosen to finish second in the SoCon Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Spartans received one first-place vote.  
• Loftin was named to the SoCon Preseason First Team, while Betsy Eatmon and Chartrand were voted to the Preseason Second Team.
• The Spartans concluded the 2024 season 33-26 overall and 13-8 in the SoCon.
• It was the fifth-straight season with 30 or more wins.
• It was also the ninth year with 30 or more wins under the direction of Breneman, who is in her 13^th year with the Blue & Gold.
• The Spartans reached the SoCon Championship game for the sixth-straight year in 2024, excluding the COVID 2020 shortened season, falling to Chattanooga in the double-elimination game.
• UNCG added four freshmen and two transfers.

RUNDOWN ON MERCER

• Mercer was voted to finish third in the 2025 SoCon Preseason Standings after a 23-30 overall record in 2024 and an 11-10 conference mark.
• Tori Hedgecock was voted to the 2025 SoCon Preseason First Team and Grace Taylor was selected to the Preseason Second Team.
• The Bears are on a four-game win streak and have won the last seven of eight games, which includes sweeping Western Carolina.
• Mercer won a 5-2 victory over then-ranked 16^th Georgia on April 2. This was the Bear's first ranked victory in seven years.
• This season, Hallie Langford was named SoCon Player of the Week on Feb. 24 and March 24.
• Hedgecock is currently leading the team with a .347 batting average, swinging 43-for-124 at the plate with 30 runs scored, 46 RBI, nine doubles and 13 homers.
• Langford is nationally ranked 49^th with 21 stolen bases, which puts her third in the SoCon.
• She also leads the Bears with 12 doubles.
• The Bears are second in the SoCon in double plays (15) and double plays per game (0.31).
• Gabby Ellis has tossed 78.1 innings in 20 appearances earning a 6-5 record with a. 3.04 ERA and 42 strikeouts.
• Hannah Pitts is second on the team with a 3.50 ERA, a 7-7 record in the circle, 76.0 innings tossed and a team-best 58 strikeouts.
• Taylor and Pitts are both 17^th in the nation with four saves.

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UP NEXT 
The Spartans will host Western Carolina on Saturday and Sunday next week in their final SoCon regular season series. The Catamounts and Spartans will play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m. at the UNCG Softball Stadium and then follow that up with a single game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Prior to the games on Saturday, the seniors and a parent or guardian will throw out the first pitch. Before the game on Sunday, our seniors will be recognized on field.