April 13, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University softball team will begin a critical three-game Ohio Valley Conference series against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels on Saturday. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader at 1 p.m., at Bulldog Field.

Admission is free and fans not able to attend the games can follow live via Samford's free Gametracker at www.SamfordSports.com.

Samford (23-17, 8-7 OVC) heads into this weekend's series as the fourth place team in the conference. The Bulldogs have won seven of their previous 10 games, including five of their last seven OVC contests. Samford is 9-6 when playing at home this season and 6-11 on the road.

Tennessee Tech currently leads the conference with a 13-2 record, while Eastern Kentucky (19-19, 11-3 OVC) sits in sole possession of second place. Jacksonville State enters this weekend as the third place team in the league and is only a half-game ahead of Samford.

Eastern Kentucky has won four of its previous five games, including a 9-6 OVC victory against Morehead State on Thursday.

So far this season, the Colonels have won all five of their conference series' and earned a three-game sweep of Morehead State. Eastern Kentucky's three OVC losses have come against Tennessee-Martin 4-0, Jacksonville State 12-9 and Southeast Missouri 3-2.

Sophomore Rachael Reeves enters this weekend as one of Samford's hottest hitters.

Reeves is batting .333 in the previous 10 games and went 4-for-6 in a doubleheader against Nicholls State on Thursday. She turned in a 3-for-4 performance in the Bulldogs' 5-2 victory in game one and hit the first home run of her collegiate career.

Eastern Kentucky's top hitter this season is true freshman Shyenne Hussey. The Colonels' native of Waimanalo, Hawaii, is currently leading the conference in hitting with a .464 batting average. She also leads the team in home runs (8), RBIs (38), hits (53) and doubles (11).

Since the Bulldogs joined the OVC in 2004, Eastern Kentucky has proven to be their toughest conference opponent.

Samford owns a 3-9 all-time record against the Colonels, but is 2-8 versus Eastern Kentucky since joining the OVC. Last season, the teams played a pair of games in Richmond, Ky., and the Colonels swept the series with wins of 3-0 and 8-0.

Following Samford's doubleheader against Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, the teams are scheduled to square off in the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games will be held at Bulldog Field.

Sunday's contest will be broadcast locally on the radio at 91.1 FM and on the internet at www.al.com/wvsu.