March 31, 2007

Game 1 - Box Score
Game 2 - Box Score

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The Samford University softball team concluded its Ohio Valley Conference series against the Austin Peay Lady Govs with a doubleheader sweep Saturday as the Bulldogs picked up victories of 9-1 and 1-0 to win the three-game set at Lady Govs Field.

"I thought that we did a very good job today," said Samford head coach Beanie Ketcham. "Our pitchers did a wonderful job and I was pleased with how they threw. Defensively, I thought that we did a nice job this weekend. We made a couple of mistakes, but nothing that hurt us too bad. These wins were huge and I'm proud of the way we played.

With the pair of wins, Samford (18-14, 5-5 OVC) earned its second straight conference series victory and improved its road record to 5-10 this season. Last week, the Bulldogs took 2-of-3 games from Eastern Illinois at home in Birmingham, Ala.

Friday night, Samford dropped a hard-fought 1-0 nail-biter to the Lady Govs in the opening game of the series, but rallied for nine runs on 11 hits to win the first contest of Saturday's twin-bill.

The Bulldogs scored a run in the top of the first inning and then exploded for three scores in the top of the third frame to take an early 4-0 lead. Samford then added two more runs in the fourth inning and earned the run-rule victory in the sixth inning with a two-out three-run homer from freshman Amanda Barrs.

Barrs went 1-for-2 with four runs batted in and smacked her second home run of the 2007 campaign to left field. Senior Liz Pearse was 3-for-4 with four runs scored and two RBIs.

Pearse, the Bulldogs' starting shortstop from Cary, N.C., connected on her first home run of the season in the top of the third inning. She turned in a 1-for-2 outing in game two and finished the day with an impressive 4-for-6 performance at the plate.

"Offensively, we did an outstanding job today," Ketcham said. "We tallied 10 runs, 11 hits and did a good job of picking up two-out RBIs. I thought that we were aggressive at the plate and we forced their defense into some mistakes."

Senior Susanna Meyer (6-4) picked up the victory in the circle and tallied her sixth complete game of the season.

Austin Peay (16-13, 5-4 OVC) had its two-game winning streak snapped Saturday and dropped to a 10-24 all-time record against the Bulldogs. Megan Williams (0-4) was the losing pitcher in game one. She allowed four runs on four hits and gave up a pair of home runs.

Shelley Stanley went 1-for-4 with two RBIs and a pair of runs scored. Freshman Brittany Simao turned in a 2-for-3 outing at the plate, while Jessica Owens, Jenna Dempski, Tracey Deaux and Rachael Reeves also finished with base hits

In game two of Saturday's OVC doubleheader, Samford scored an unearned run in the top of the first inning and took advantage of a pitching gem from Stephanie Royall (10-9) to win 1-0.

Royall, the Bulldogs' sophomore Second-Team All-OVC performer, picked up her third shutout of the 2007 campaign and finished with nine strikeouts against Austin Peay. She only allowed five hits in the game and three walks.

"I thought that our pitching was solid all weekend long," said Ketcham. "Even last night in our loss, Stephanie did a great job and only gave up four hits. Today, Susanna turned in an outstanding performance and Steph did a great job to win game two. We finished with several strikeouts and it seemed like we were in a groove."

Samford scored the game-winning run in the top of the first inning as Pearse led off the frame with a single up the middle and later scored on a throwing error from catcher Fallon Felts. The error occurred after Pearse stole third base, her sixth of the season.

Stanley recorded the Bulldogs' second hit of the game in the top of the sixth inning.

The Samford University softball team will next be in action Wednesday as the Bulldogs welcome Southeastern Conference-foe Mississippi State to Birmingham, Ala., for a 6 p.m., matchup at Bulldog Field.