April 24, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team will host Elon in its final home series of the conference season this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, April 25-26. The Bulldogs and Phoenix will play a doubleheader Saturday starting at 1 p.m. CT and will wrap up the weekend with a single game on Sunday, also beginning at 1 p.m.
This will be only the third meeting between Samford (16-24, 8-13 SoCon) and Elon (13-26, 4-11 SoCon). The Bulldogs have a 2-0 lead in the series and hope to extend that streak this weekend. The last time the two teams met was in 2002 when the Bulldogs swept the Phoenix by scores of 4-3 and 5-1.
The Phoenix are led by Jacqueline Gonzalez and Brandi Jones who are hitting .279 and .276, respectively. Jones also leads Elon in runs, hits and total bases while boasting a team-high eight home runs on the season.
Erin O'Shea leads Elon with the most time in the pitcher's circle. She sports a 6.02 ERA on the season, with 52 strikeouts in 83.2 innings. She has held opponents to a .293 average at the plate.
Samford will honor its three seniors -- Kylie Harmon, Kristy Lawrence and Jessica Owens - prior to the first pitch on Sunday. This senior class enters its final week of regular season play leading the team in hitting, while also making a significant defensive contribution.
Owens leads the Bulldogs with a .437 batting average and recently made a comeback from injury Thursday night to extend her hitting streak to six games. Although she was out for over a month, Owens still ranks third on the team in hits.
Lawrence boasts a .333 batting average while leading the team in hits and total bases, and is second in RBI. The Bulldog first baseman leads the team defensively with 309 putouts on the year. She also ranks first in slugging percentage (.487) as she has six doubles and four home runs on the season.
Harmon leads Samford in stolen bases with 13. She has posted a .325 batting average on the year and has started all 26 of the games that she has played. Although she has faced many challenges this season, she has still put together nine hits in the last ten contests and has had six multi-hit games on the year.
"In terms of impact and leading by doing, this senior class has been one of the most consistent and productive in the history of our program," Samford head coach Beanie Ketcham said.
Fans can follow the action via live stats for all three games this weekend. A full recap and results will be available on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of each day of competition.
