May 4, 2008

Box Score

MARTIN, Tenn. - The Samford University softball team completed its must-win stretch of games with a 2-1 victory against the UT Martin Skyhawks on Sunday as the Bulldogs finished off a three-game Ohio Valley Conference sweep at Bettye Giles Field. With the do-or-die win, Samford earned a spot in next week's OVC Tournament.

"I'm really, really excited for this team," said Samford head coach Beanie Ketcham. "All along, I knew that they could play like this and I'm extremely proud of how they competed this weekend. Our players worked very hard and today we got some great pitching from Amanda (Barrs) and Margaret (Carter). We were also able to get some clutch hitting."

Samford (23-27, 14-13) will begin play in the 2008 OVC Tournament on Thursday at 10 a.m., as the Bulldogs square off against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels in the first game of the three-day competition. The tournament will be held at University Field on the campus of Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Ala.

In the top of the sixth inning, Samford scored the decisive run of the game on a single to left center field from Katie England.

On the play, freshman Aaren Fisher scored all the way from first base after the Skyhawks' centerfielder Megan Williams committed a costly throwing error to third base.

Fisher's game-winning run gave the Bulldogs their decisive 2-1 lead in the sixth inning. Fisher, Samford's true freshman from Henderson, Nev., went 1-for-3 on Sunday and led off the frame with a single through the left side of the infield.

Junior Kylie Harmon paced the Bulldogs' offense with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate. Samford's starting second baseman also drove in the team's first run of the game with a single to right field in the top of the second inning.

With two outs and England at third base, Harmon blooped a single to right field that barely dropped in fair territory. England, who drew the lead-off walk that ignited the second-inning rally, easily scored on the play from third. She went 1-for-3 at the plate Sunday.

In the three-game series, England led Samford with a .375 batting average and hit the winning two-run homer in game two Sunday. She also scored a pair of runs and tallied an .875 slugging percentage.

"I'm really proud of our team and all of our players did a great job this weekend," Ketcham said. "We've really been on a roll lately and now I think that we are starting to play consistently. I'm glad that we were able to make the tournament and now we need to keep up the positive momentum."

With Sunday's loss, UT Martin (28-27, 10-12 OVC) failed to make the OVC Tournament for the first time since 2001.

The defeat also marked the second straight year that the Bulldogs ended the Skyhawks' season. Last year, in the 2007 OVC Tournament, Samford defeated UT Martin 4-1 to knock the Skyhawks out of the postseason. The Bulldogs improved their all-time record against the Skyhawks to 10-5.

Samford's Margaret Carter (7-8) earned her third straight victory against UT Martin. The Bulldogs' freshman pitcher from Welaka, Fla., picked up all three wins over the weekend.

On Sunday, sophomore Amanda Barrs started in the circle for Samford and pitched the opening three innings of the game. She limited UT Martin to three hits and only allowed one earned run. Carter came on in relief of Barrs in the fourth inning and hurled the final four frames of the contest. She only allowed a pair of hits and struck out two Skyhawks.

UT Martin's lone senior Ashton Strode got the start for the Skyhawks and pitched the entire game. She allowed four Samford hits and one earned run. Strode also finished the contest with three strikeouts.

Offensively, UT Martin was led by leadoff hitter Ashley Benbow. Benbow paced the team by turning in a 2-for-3 performance at the plate. She recorded two of the Skyhawks' five hits in the game. UT Martin's Lauren Roberts, Lauren Lindow and Kara Harper all went 1-for-3.

The Samford University softball team will begin play in the 2008 OVC Tournament on Thursday at 10 a.m., against the third-seeded Eastern Kentucky Colonels in Jacksonville, Ala. Earlier this season Samford went 1-2 against Eastern Kentucky in a weekend series held in Richmond, Ky.

2008 OVC Tournament Bracket