May 6, 2007

Game 1 - Box Score
Game 2 - Box Score

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Samford University softball team fought its way to a doubleheader split against the first-place Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles on Sunday as the Bulldogs won game one 1-0, but then lost the finale 9-5.

With the split, Samford (30-21, 15-11 Ohio Valley Conference) secured the No. 3-seed in the 2007 OVC Tournament and finished off its best regular season in school history. The Bulldogs' 30 regular-season wins this year surpassed the previous record of 28 set in 2004.

Samford will square off against the No. 6-seeded Austin Peay Lady Govs at 12:30 p.m., Thursday here in Cookeville. The OVC Tournament will be held from Thursday until Saturday at the TTU Softball Complex.

Tennessee Tech (44-16, 20-5 OVC) concluded its 2007 regular season as the conference champions and will be the top-seeded team in the OVC Tournament. The Golden Eagles will play the winner of No. 4-seed Eastern Kentucky and No. 5-seed Tennessee-Martin on Thursday.

With Saturday's rainout of game one and Sunday's doubleheader split, this weekend marked the first OVC series of the season the Tennessee Tech did not win. The Golden Eagles finished with at least two victories against every other OVC team.

In game one of Sunday's doubleheader, Samford's Stephanie Royall (18-11) turned in one of the best pitching performances of the season.

The Bulldogs' sophomore hurler limited Tennessee Tech's potent offense to only two hits and tallied her seventh shutout victory of the 2007 campaign. Royall tied her season-high with 11 strikeouts and also tied the school record with 18 wins this year.

Samford scored the game-winning run in the top of the 10th inning as true freshman Amanda Barrs rifled a line-drive double to left center field to score Shelley Stanley from second base. Barrs finished with two of the Bulldogs' three hits and turned in a 2-for-4 performance at the plate.

In the top of the 10th inning, Stanley was placed at second base due to the international tiebreaker rule.

Tennessee Tech's Krystina Dobbs and Kristyn Castonzo were the only Golden Eagles to record hits in game one.

Senior Bonnie Bynum (28-9) turned in a solid pitching performance of her own in the opener. She struck out 11 Samford players and only allowed three Bulldog hits. Samford's lone run of the game was unearned.

In game two of Sunday's doubleheader, Tennessee Tech jumped out to an early 7-0 lead as the Golden Eagles rallied for seven runs on seven hits in the bottom of the second inning. The key hit for Tennessee Tech in the inning was a two-run double down the right field line from Katie Speiser.

Speiser, the Golden Eagles' junior from Ringgold, Ga., later homered in the game and finished with a 2-for-2 outing at the plate. She scored a pair of runs and tallied three RBIs.

Samford trimmed Tennessee Tech's lead to 7-2 in the top of the third inning as Jenna Dempski and Jeslyn Metcalf both crossed the plate.

Metcalf was 1-for-3 with a run scored, while both Kylie Harmon and Jessica Owens paced the team with 2-for-4 offensive performances. Harmon crossed the plate twice Sunday and also drove in a pair of runs.

The Bulldogs later cut Tennessee Tech's advantage to 7-3 in the top of the sixth inning. The Golden Eagles then scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame to lead 9-3. Samford tacked on two scores in the top of the seventh inning to make the final decision 9-5.

Stanley went 1-for-3 and drove in a run, while Barrs also tallied an RBI and went 1-for-4.

The Samford University softball team will next be in action Thursday as the Bulldogs return to Cookeville for the opening round of the 2007 OVC Tournament. As the No. 3-seeded team in the six-team competition, Samford will square off against the sixth-seeded Austin Peay Lady Govs at 12:30 p.m.