March 28, 2009
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team split Saturday's doubleheader with Furman as it won the first game, 3-2, before falling in the second game, 7-3. The Bulldogs and Paladins will round out the Southern Conference series on Sunday with a single game at 1 p.m.
The Bulldogs used three pitchers in the circle Saturday with Kayla Burris leading in strikeouts with seven. Kristy Lawrence led the Bulldogs in hitting with four RBI and going 4-for-6 at the plate. Her two-run homer in the third inning of the first game scored what turned out to be the winning runs for the Bulldogs in game one. She brought in all three runs for Samford in the first game.
In the first game, Samford retired three straight batters at the top of the first inning and then quickly got on the board in the bottom half of the inning when Lawrence doubled, with runners on second and third and one out, to bring in Katie England. Samford then took a 3-0 lead when Lawrence blasted a two-run home run in the third inning.
The Paladins finally got on the board in the fourth inning and added another run in the fifth inning but the Bulldogs held on to win the game.
Stephanie Royall (5-6) started in the circle for the Bulldogs and got her fifth win of the season, pitching four and one-third innings. After she had given up the second run, Burris came on in relief and threw the duration of the game. She struck out four batter and walked two while only giving up one hit.
Lana Mackey (5-9) took the loss for the Paladins after giving up three runs on six hits in three innings. She was relieved by Hannah Bradley in the fourth inning and Bradley would pitch the duration of the game, giving up two hits but striking out zero batters. Second baseman Morgan Hughey and third baseman Jessie Homesley each brought in one run for Furman.
In the second game, Furman jumped out early with a 2-0 lead. Samford pitcher Amanda Barrs walked the Paladins' lead-off batter, Stephanie Field, who was put in scoring position on second base after a sacrifice bunt by Abby Robertson. Stephanie Cushing then singled to put Field on third and then stole second. Hughey then doubled to bring the two runs in.
In the bottom of the inning, Samford answered back with three runs of its own. Amy Gonzalez led off with a single through the left side and then advanced to second on an illegal pitch by Bethany Ullrich. Kylie Harmon singled to advance Gonzalez to third and England loaded the bases with another single. Barrs stepped up and singled as well to bring Gonzalez home and then advanced to second on the throw. Harmon was thrown out trying to advance home and England and Barrs were on second and third, respectively.
Ullrich threw another illegal pitch which brought England home. Lawrence then stepped up and reached base on an error by Brythe Blankenship at first base which brought home Barrs.
Furman then had a huge inning the top of the second, tacking on five runs to make it a 7-3 ballgame. Kate Termini led off and was walked by Barrs before stealing second place and getting into scoring position. Katie Michaels then doubled to bring in Termini and thus began Furman's five-run rally.
Field singled to advance Michaels to third before Robertson brought in the go-ahead run on a single to right field. Burris came in to pitch for Royall but Furman's shortstop Stephanie Cushing stepped up with two runners on and blasted a three-run homer to centerfield to bring the score to 7-3. Both teams would keep the other scoreless for the rest of the game, combining for seven more hits and leaving eight runners on base.
Samford and Furman will wrap up the weekend Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. start in the final game. Fans can listen to the action locally on WVSU 91.1 FM or via live stats on www.samfordsports.com. A full recap and results will be posted upon the completion of the game.
