April 26, 2009
Box Score
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team took its final home conference series Sunday as it won the rubber game with Elon, 6-4. The Bulldogs came back from a three-run deficit to put together three straight innings of scoring to win their final regular-season conference game.
Samford (18-25, 10-14 SoCon) was led by Amy Gonzalez and Kylie Harmon who both went 2-for-2 on the day. Gonzalez had two RBI while Harmon added one. Katie England was 1-for-3 with one RBI while Aaren Fisher also was 1-for-3 at the plate.
Robyn Harmon (3-1) grabbed her third win of the season, pitching four and one-third innings and striking out four batters while giving up one earned run on six hits. Stephanie Royall earned the save as she came in and finished out the last one-third of the sixth inning. Amanda Barrs started the game in the pitcher's circle, striking out three and giving up three earned runs on five hits in two and one-third innings.
Elon (14-28, 5-13 SoCon) was led by Patti Weber who went 3-for-4 on the day. Jacqueline Gonzalez and Kaitlyn Piazzolla were both 2-for-4 while Ashlee Crewe and Jaimie Rao were 1-for-4. Piazzolla had three of the Phoenix four RBI while Rao had one.
Melanie Helterbran (4-10) took the loss for the Phoenix as she pitched two and two-thirds innings and gave up four earned runs on four hits. She struck out one batter and walked one. Erin O'Shea started the game for the Phoenix and pitched three and one-third innings, giving up two runs on two hits. She struck out two batters and walked four.
Elon took a quick 3-0 lead when Piazzolla hit a home run with two outs and two runners on base. That lead lasted until the bottom of the fourth inning when Samford responded with a two-run inning to cut the lead to one.
After Jessica Owens grounded out to first base, Amy Gonzalez stepped up to the plate and homered to left center to get the Bulldogs on the board. O'Shea walked Amanda Jordan before being replaced in the pitcher's circle by Helterbran. Jordan advanced to second base on a wild pitch while Aaren Fisher was at the plate, and then advanced to third when Fisher flied out to center field. Jordan scored when Kylie Harmon singled to the pitcher but the inning ended after Robyn Harmon lined out to the shortstop.
The fourth inning sparked a run by Samford in which the Bulldogs took over the game and scored four more runs in the next two innings.
In the fifth inning, Katie England homered to center field with two outs to tie the game before Owens walked. Gonzalez then stepped up and tripled to right center to score Owens and then scored herself on a throwing error by Elon's right fielder. The Bulldogs were now up, 5-3.
Elon cut the Bulldogs' lead to one in the top of the sixth inning with a home run by Rao but the Bulldogs jumped ahead by two again in the bottom of the inning when Fisher scored on an error by Elon's second baseman. Robyn Harmon and Royall combined in the top of the seventh inning to hold the Bulldog's lead and retire Elon for the last time.
Samford will close out its regular season with a couple of non-conference foes this week. The Bulldogs will first hit the road to take on Mercer this Wednesday and Thursday, April 29-30. The teams will play a single game on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT, and a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. on Thursday. Samford will then return home on Saturday, May 2, to make up a game with UAB that was rained out earlier this year. First pitch for the meeting is set for 1 p.m.
