April 12, 2007

Game 1 - Box Score
Game 2 - Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University softball team played to a doubleheader split against the Nicholls State Colonels on Thursday as the non-conference opponents squared off in a two-game set held at Bulldog Field. Samford won game one 5-2, but dropped the second contest 2-1.

"Part of our plan today was to get a lot of our younger players some game action, and to rest some of our starters," said Samford head coach Beanie Ketcham. "We were able to do that today and we were also able to put a very competitive team on the field.

"We gave ourselves a very good chance to win both games and I thought that all of our younger players played well. Kylie (Harmon) did a great job at third base in the first game and Whitney (Terry) did a great job behind the plate in game two."

Samford (23-17) earned its second consecutive doubleheader split Thursday after doing the same against Jacksonville State on Wednesday.

With their outing against Nicholls State (21-18), the Bulldogs moved to a 9-6 record at home this season. Samford has been victorious in seven of its previous 10 games and will begin a key Ohio Valley Conference series against second-place Eastern Kentucky on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Samford's Rachael Reeves and Susanna Meyer (8-5) helped the Bulldogs to their 5-2 victory against Nicholls State in game one.

Reeves turned in a 3-for-4 performance at the plate and powered the first home run of the collegiate career in the bottom of the fifth inning. Reeves, who had been a left-handed slap hitter until two weeks ago, finished the game with three runs scored and an RBI. She was recently moved back to the right-handed side of the plate and has hit safely in six of her previous eight games.

"Rachael played great today and she has really been one of the bright spots of the season," Ketcham said. "We saw some of her high school stats when we were at her house in Mobile for spring break and so we decided to move her back to being a right-handed hitter. Since then, she's been tearing it up and has been a great addition to the middle of our lineup."

Meyer, Samford's senior pitcher from Davie, Fla., earned her second straight win Thursday as she limited the Colonels to two runs on six hits in seven innings. She tallied four strikeouts and only allowed a pair of bases on balls.

The Bulldogs' finished with eight stolen bases and Reeves ended the doubleheader with four of the team's steals. Samford currently leads the OVC with 65 stolen bases this season.

Senior Shelley Stanley was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI in game one, while Jeslyn Metcalf finished with a 2-for-2 performance at the plate. Both Amanda Barrs and Kylie Harmon were 1-for-2 in the contest.

In game two, the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 1-0 advantage in the bottom of the second inning, but gave up a two-run homer to Amy Thibodeaux in the top of the fourth frame.

Thibodeaux's game-winning home run was her ninth of the 2007 campaign and gave the Colonels' their decisive 2-1 lead with nobody out in the inning. Leah Peterson led off the frame with a double to center field and then scored on Thibodeaux's blast.

"That home run was the difference," Ketcham said. "I was really disappointed. I really thought that we would come back and score some runs in the second game. We just didn't do it today. We had tons of runners on base, but we just couldn't get any key hits and that was the difference in the game."

Nicholls State's Jessica Barksdale (3-4) picked up the victory in the circle and only allowed one earned run. She only struck out three Samford hitters and the Bulldogs finished the game with nine runners left on base.

Despite being saddled with the tough-luck loss, Barrs (2-2) tallied a 2-for-4 performance at the plate. Emily Deaux went 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Harmon was 1-for-3 with an RBI.

The Samford University softball team will next be in action Saturday at 1 p.m., as the Bulldogs begin a critical three-game OVC series against the second-place Eastern Kentucky Colonels. The teams will play a series-opening doubleheader Saturday followed by Sunday's finale at 1 p.m.