April 18, 2009
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team split Saturday's doubleheader with Western Carolina, falling in the first game, 6-3, but rebounding with an 8-4 win in the second game. The Bulldogs will try to win the series Sunday as they meet up with the Catamounts for the series rubber game at 1 p.m.
Every run for Western Carolina (11-26, 7-10 SoCon) in the first game was scored on a home run. The Catamounts put together four solo home runs to score the first four runs while WCU second baseman Amber Hawkins rattled off a two-run homer in the seventh inning to bring in the winning runs.
Samford (13-24, 6-13) put up four runs in the bottom of the first inning in game two to take an early 4-0 lead, but Western Carolina answered back with four of their own in the top of the third to tie the score. However, the Bulldogs added a run in each of the next four innings while shutting out the Catamounts in those respective innings to win the second game, 8-4.
"We are still just looking for that consistency," Samford head coach Beanie Ketcham said. "Stephanie (Royall) threw great on Wednesday and then came out and didn't throw great today. (Amanda) Barrs didn't throw great on Wednesday but came out and did a great job today. We are just really struggling right now to find a consistent combination from a pitching standpoint. When we do pitch well, I think we have a great chance to win.
"Overall, I think we played great today," Ketcham said. "The pitches that they hit out of the ballpark, we didn't just leave them fat at the plate. Their hitters just did a great job and we were aggressive, but that is just what happens sometimes when teams get hot."
In the first game, freshman Amy Gonzalez was 2-for-2 and senior Kristy Lawrence was 2-for-4 while both had one RBI each. Robyn Harmon, Katie England and Amanda Jordan each had a hit while Jordan brought in Samford's third run.
Mollie Fowler led the Catamounts going 2-for-3 at the plate with two home runs and two RBI. Chelsea Schaffer and Amber Hawkins both went 2-for-4. Both of Schaffer's hits were home runs while Hawkins' second hit was a two-run homer in the seventh that scored the winning runs.
Stephanie Royall (8-8) started in the circle for the Bulldogs, pitching four innings and giving up two earned runs on six hits while striking out four batters. She was relieved by Robyn Harmon (0-1) who pitched the remaining three innings and took the loss, giving up four earned runs on four hits while striking out two batters.
Katie King (5-11) earned the win for WCU as she struck out four batters and gave up just three runs, two earned, on seven hits.
Samford took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when Jordan singled to left field to bring home England. However, the Catamounts answered back in the top of the third with two runs of their own. Schaffer led off with a home run before the Bulldogs retired the next two batters. Fowler then blasted her first homer of the day to put Western Carolina up, 2-1, before Samford got out of the inning when Stephanie Beatty flied out to center field.
The Bulldogs tied the score in the bottom of the third when Lawrence got a base hit to bring Kylie Harmon home. Harmon reached base on an error by the shortstop and advanced to second on the throw. She advanced to third when Lawrence got the hit and scored ahead of the tag at home.
Samford took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when England scored with two outs on a single by Gonzalez to the pitcher. However, the Catamounts tied the score in the sixth when Fowler led off the inning with her second homer of the day. WCU then scored three more in the seventh when Schaffer led off with her second home run and Hawkins blasted a two-run homer to score the winning runs.
The Bulldogs saw King again in the second game and seemed to settle into her pitching and make some adjustments to get hits off of her.
"Obviously, when you see a pitcher for that long, it gives you an opportunity to make adjustments," Ketcham said. "You've seen all of her pitches and you know what to expect. In the second game, that was a huge advantage for us."
Gonzalez and Robyn Harmon led the Bulldogs in the second game with a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate while Gonzalez scored one run and Harmon scored two with three RBI. Aaren Fisher, Amanda Barrs, England and Jordan also each had two hits while England added two RBI and Fisher and Lawrence each had one.
Western Carolina's third baseman Beatty was 2-for-2 with one RBI while Beth Hauser was 1-for-3 with two RBI and Schaffer and Fowler went 1-for-4. Fowler also had one of the Catamounts' four RBI.
Barrs (3-12) pitched a complete seven-inning game to earn the win for the Bulldogs, posting a 5.21 ERA. She struck out one batter and gave up four unearned runs on seven hits. She walked two batters. King took the loss for the Catamounts as she pitched 5.2 innings while giving up seven runs, five earned, on 11 hits. Chere Monday relieved King for just one-third of an inning before giving up one run on two hits and walking two batters. King then re-entered and pitched the remainder of the game.
In the first inning of the second game, England fielded a ground ball by Schaffer to put the first out on the board before the Bulldogs found two Catamounts on the bases after a single and a hit-by-pitch. Samford then turned a double play to get the last two outs, when Fowler grounded out to third base and Kristen Gay was out at third on the play.
Kylie Harmon led Samford off in the bottom of the inning with a single to right field and stole second base before Fisher came to the plate and singled to second base to bring Harmon in for the first run. Fisher was then put in scoring position on second base when Lawrence grounded out and Barrs singled to left field to advance Fisher to third.
Robyn Harmon then came to the plate and sparked a scoring frenzy on an interesting play. Harmon singled to left field and advanced to second on an error by the WCU left fielder. Meanwhile, Fisher, Barrs and Lawrence move all the way around to home to score the first three runs for the Bulldogs. Harmon's fast action brought her home as the Catamounts looked to be confused on where to throw the ball, and Harmon beat the tag at the plate to put the Bulldogs up, 4-0.
In the third inning, Schaffer reached base on an error by Jordan with one out on the board. Gay singled to the shortstop and put Schaffer in scoring position on second base. After Hawkins flied out to center field, Fowler singled to third base and brought in Schaffer for Western Carolina's first run of the game. Beatty then singled to center field to bring in Gay before Hauser singled to bring in the tying runs. Samford was able to get out of the inning, though, when Burnside popped up to Jordan for the third out.
Robyn Harmon doubled in the third inning and scored when England singled to second to put Samford up, 5-4. In the fourth inning, Lawrence flied out to right field to bring Gonzalez home in the fourth before Monday threw a wild pitch with the bases loaded to bring in England. The Bulldogs were up, 7-4.
In the sixth inning, Lawrence and Barrs were on base. Reeves laid down a sacrifice bunt to move them to into scoring position before England brought in the winning run (Lawrence) on a single to the shortstop.
First pitch for the final game of the series on Sunday is slated for 1 p.m. Fans can follow all of the action via live stats and a full recap and results will be available on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of the game.
