Somehow, Merceruio (4-1), who "was a little nervous," and the Bulldogs won their 11th straight. She walked seven in the first four innings; her teammates committed three errors behind her. Yet the Bulldogs still led, 3-1. Then the Eagles (12-13) greeted her with three straight singles to start the fifth.
On the third of those hits, the Bulldogs' relay throw to the plate was well wide. But Hedgesville's Keri Conner did not go home on the play after missing a signal at third base, leaving the bases loaded with no outs.
It came back to haunt the Eagles after Laura Copenhaver's smash to shortstop Leslie Henry was snared and turned into a double play. It hurt even more when Jessica Shade grounded to second to end the inning.
"It was just like last night," Hedgesville coach Bill Anderson said. "I thought that was a big play, the ball by Catlett (a bases-loaded smash in the fourth that was caught) was a big play. Martinsburg was a little better on those."
Merceruio had a lot to do with that. She drove in the second run for the Bulldogs (22-7), then helped herself even more with a double to left that got another run home in the sixth. She scored on a single by Merika Taylor, her second RBI of the game.
It gave the 8-9 hitters in the Martinsburg lineup three hits and four RBIs - and helped the Bulldogs prove that it's better to get hits late than not at all.
"I was a little nervous, but I knew we'd come around," Merceruio said. "We usually don't start getting going until the end of the game anyway. And we came through."
