Feb. 15, 2008

Samford-Louisville Box Score
Samford-Troy Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University softball team dropped a pair of hard-fought matchups Friday as the Bulldogs began play in the 2008 Bulldog Bash. Samford lost its first game of the day to Louisville 3-0, and then fell short in the finale 6-3 against Troy.

In the first two games of Friday's four-team competition, North Florida (3-4) defeated Louisville (4-2) in the opener 5-3, before Troy (4-3) defeated North Florida in game two 3-1.

Troy finished the first day of competition with an undefeated 2-0 record, while both Louisville and North Florida went 1-1. Samford (3-4) dropped a pair of tough decisions Friday and ended the day 0-2.

In Samford's 3-0 loss against Louisville, the Bulldogs left six base-runners in scoring position throughout the game. Junior pitcher Stephanie Royall (0-1) turned in a solid outing in the circle and only allowed two earned runs. She finished with three strikeouts and only gave up six hits.

"We just left runners stranded all game long and couldn't get the big hit," said Samford head coach Beanie Ketcham. "We struck out way too many times with runners in scoring position and you can't just do that against a team that's as good as Louisville. I thought that Stephanie (Royall) pitched well, but we just have to score some runs."

Against Louisville, Samford finished with three hits. Jessica Owens, Emily Deaux and Kylie Harmon all singled for the Bulldogs, while senior Jeslyn Metcalf drew a pair of walks.

Louisville's Kristen Waldwell (2-1) earned the complete-game victory and tallied 11 strikeouts in seven innings. The Cardinals' sophomore right-hander from Sydney, Australia, only allowed three Bulldog hits.

Leftfielder Brittany York went 1-for-3 for Louisville and drove in a pair of runs with a deep homer in the sixth inning. Her two-run blast put the game out of reach and gave the Cardinals their decisive 3-0 advantage. Louisville's Melissa Roth turned in a 2-for-3 performance at the plate.

In Samford's second game against Troy, the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the third inning. Samford tallied a run in each of the first three innings and starting pitcher Kayla Burris cruised through the first few frames.

The Bulldogs' Jessica Owens doubled in the first inning and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Aaren Fisher. In the second inning, freshman Amanda Jordan ignited a Samford rally with a sharp single through the right side of the infield and later crossed the plate on a Troy passed ball.

In the third inning, Samford extended its lead to 3-0 as Fisher sent a deep home run to right center field. The Bulldogs' true freshman from Henderson, Nev., went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored against Troy.

"I thought that we hit the ball a lot better against Troy, but again we just couldn't put anything together," Ketcham said. "As a whole, I just didn't think that we played a solid game. We had our chances to win, but we just didn't do the things that we needed to do. Troy is a good hitting team and they did a good job of getting the bat on the ball."

The Trojans chipped away at the Bulldogs' lead with two unearned runs in the top of the fourth inning, but then exploded for three scored in the top of the fifth frame. In the inning, Troy's Hillary Hughes delivered the big blow with a three-run double to left field. With the key hit, Troy took a 5-3 advantage.

Troy added a run in the top of the seventh frame.

"Even though we lost two games today, I can definitely see some improvement," Ketcham said. "I think that we have all of the tools. We have good pitching, good hitting and good defense. Our freshmen still have a lot to learn, but that's normal. Getting Stephanie (Royall) all the way back healthy will be huge, but we definitely have a tremendous upside this season."

Against Troy, Samford's Owens went 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Whitney Terry was 2-for-3 and Harmon turned in a perfect 2-for-2 outing. Deaux and Jordan also added hits for the Bulldogs.

The Samford University softball team will resume play in the 2008 Samford Bulldogs Bash on Saturday at 1:15 p.m., as the Bulldogs square off against the North Florida Ospreys. In the first game of the day, Troy and Louisville are scheduled to duel at 11 a.m., at Bulldog Field.