March 9, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team will begin a five game homestand on Tuesday as it plays host to St. Louis for a mid-week doubleheader at Samford's Bulldog Field. The Bulldogs and Billikens will square off at 4 p.m. on March 10.
The doubleheader will be streamed live on SoCon.TV. Fans can also follow the action with live stats. A full recap and results will be available on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of both games.
Samford (5-11, 0-3 SoCon) returns to non-conference action after their first weekend in Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs visited Appalachian State on Saturday and Sunday and unfortunately came away with three losses, unsuccessful in breaking a skid that was extended to seven games on Sunday.
The Mountaineers defeated the Bulldogs on in a Saturday doubleheader, 9-2 in the first game and 11-2 in the second game. Samford was able to hold Appalachian State to only four runs on Sunday but could not overcome a late homerun by their opponents in the ninth inning, falling 4-2.
The Bulldogs lead the series with St. Louis, 4-2. The first time the two teams met up was in the first year of softball for Samford. In 1987, the Bulldogs split a pair of games with the Billikens, falling 2-1 in the first and winning 7-6 in the second. The teams met again 19 years later in 2006, when Samford took both meetings by a score of 3-2 both times. The next year was another split in two eight innings games. Samford won the first, 6-5, and lost the second, 5-4.
Samford continues to be led by a number of players. Jessica Owens has a team-high .429 batting average and is 21 of 49 at the plate so far this season. She has also drawn a team-high 11 walks. Katie England has 12 RBI on the season and leads in homeruns with Aaren Fisher with three. Amy Gonzalez has two doubles and is a perfect six of six on stolen bases. Kristy Lawrence has a team-high 139 putouts and England leads in assists with 36.
Stephanie Royall remains Samford's most-used pitcher and she sports the Bulldogs' best ERA of 3.71. She has struck out 27 batters in 45.1 innings. Kayla Burris has proven to be Samford's best reliever, striking out 26 in 17.1 innings and posting a 4.04 ERA.
St. Louis (4-12, 0-0 Atlantic 10) has won three of its last ten outings, most recently a 6-4 decision against Southern Utah. The Billikens are led by Katie Johns who has a team-high .355 batting average and Nicki Jost who leads in just about every other category. Jost is second on the team currently in runs (10) and hits (17) but leads in doubles (5), triples (1), homeruns (2), RBI (10) and slugging percent age (.609). She also leads in putouts with 64.
The Billikens' pitching rotation includes starters Erin Kelly, Stacy Gillette and Kelcie Matesa and relievers Emma DeKalb and Lindsey Ciresa. Kelly has the best ERA of the trio of starters with a 3.82 while pitching 25.2 innings in 11 appearances at the circle. She has given up only 23 runs, 14 earned, on 29 hits on the year and walked only 16 batters. She has struck out 19. Gillette leads in innings pitched (35.2) and strikeouts (28) with a 6.67 ERA.
