March 11, 2001

Box Score

PELHAM, Ala. - Samford freshman Angela Bednark hit a two-run home run to straight away center field in the second inning and Janet Middleton added a solo home run in the fourth inning to power the Bulldogs to a 3-2 victory over Auburn in the championship game of the Samford Invitational at Pelham City Park on Sunday.

Bednark's second inning blast gave Samford a 2-1 lead after Auburn opened the scoring in the top of the inning on a RBI-double by Lindsey Chitwood. After Middleton's homer gave Samford a 3- 1 lead, Auburn scored a run in the top of the sixth on a RBI-single by Jennifer Hammock.

The Tournament's Most Outstanding Pitcher, Samford's Brianne Mertens (8-8) pitched a complete game giving up two runs and striking out seven Tigers. Mertens went 4-0 in the tournament with 42 strikeouts in 31.1 innings of work.

Lily Dubois (5-1) took the loss pitching just one inning and giving up two runs on three hits. DuBois was Auburn's winning pitcher in its 9-1 win over Ball State in the first semifinal. The Tigers' Michelle Martin and Mary Petrie were both named to the All-Tournament team.

Samford (12-17) got to the championship game by defeating Austin Peay 3-1 in the semifinal game. Tournament MVP Mindy Shunnarah hit a solo home run to open the scoring. Shunnarah went 9-19 with two home runs and seven RBI over the weekend..

The rest of the All-Tournament team included Samford's Bednark, Kasey Angulo and Carrie Lively of Ball State, Kelly Thompson of UAB, Jenny Kelly of Austin Peay, and Shawna Pena of Alabama A&M.