An ongoing series of a bi-weekly blog from the voice of Samford softball play-by-play announcer James Hardy.

From time-to-time, you're reminded that there is a small margin of error between winning and losing.
 
That was the case for our Samford Bulldogs this weekend as they went 2-3 in Gulf Shores but were on the edge of a spectacular weekend. Four of Samford's five games this weekend were decided by one run with both games Friday being decided with a walk-off run.
 
You can look at the weekend with the glass half empty or half full. On one hand, Samford's offense sputtered out of the gate thanks to missed opportunities with runners in scoring position and conclude that improvement needs to take offensively, or you can look at the outstanding pitching form Mollie Hanson and Jessica Stone along with the steady fielding from the position players and conclude that the wins will eventually materialize once the bats get hotter.
 
In either case, Samford put themselves in position to win all five of their games this weekend. Samford found a way to win against Lipscomb in extra innings Friday but couldn't manufacture enough offense in losses to Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist and Louisiana.
 
Back to the pitching tandem of Hanson and Stone, if they can build on their efforts this weekend, Samford can compete for a SoCon championship.
 
There's no way to put it, but if you pull for Samford, you have to be proud of Mollie Hanson's effort against one of the best offenses in the country in #11-ranked Louisiana. The Ragin' Cajuns scored 45 runs in their first three games of the weekend but managed only one run and no extra base hits against Samford's senior right hander in a 1-0 Samford loss.
 
For Stone, she started three of the five games this weekend and did so consistently. In splitting her two decisions, she allowed only four runs and on the whole is in position to solidify a spot as the regular number two starter. The biggest positive of the weekend for the junior right hander is that she did not walk a batter in her 13 innings pitched.  
 
Along with a competitive outing against the No.11 Ragin Cajuns, Samford turned around on short rest for a 9 a.m. weekend finale against Belmont and routed the Bruins 10-1 in five innings. Along with Stone's consistency in the circle, the offense got contributions up and down the lineup including a home run from Caroline Wilder and an inside the park home run from Shelby Maze.
 
No matter how you look at this weekend, the season is just getting started with plenty of games still to be played.
 
In the next "In the Circle", we'll preview Samford's four-game weekend at South Alabama's Mardi Gras Invitational.