May 4, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team will meet up with No. 2-seed College of Charleston on Wednesday in its first appearance in the Southern Conference Softball Tournament. The Bulldogs, a number seven seed, and Cougars will play in the second game of the tournament on May 6, which is being hosted by defending champion Chattanooga at Jim Frost Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The championship is a double-elimination tournament following the single-elimination play-in game at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, with the championship game scheduled for Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
The last time Samford (19-26, 10-14 SoCon) and College of Charleston (23-24, 14-9 SoCon) met was March 15 at Bulldog Field when the two teams played the better part of a tripleheader after the usual Southern Conference Saturday doubleheader was rained out. The Bulldogs won the first two games, 8-4 and 4-3, respectively, before falling to the Cougars in third game, 6-4, in eight innings. The two wins were Samford's first two in the Southern Conference.
The Bulldogs are led by Jessica Owens who sports a .398 batting average and is second on the team in hits. Fellow senior Kylie Harmon is right behind with a .370 batting average while also being second on the team in hits with 37 and leading the team in stolen bases with 19. She is just one away from tying Owens' 2008 record of 20 stolen bases.
Freshman pitcher Robyn Harmon (3-3) still leads the Samford hurlers with a 2.57 ERA while batting .342. In 32.2 innings of play, Harmon has struck out 19 batters and pitched one complete game. Stephanie Royall (8-9) continues to be the Bulldogs with the most action as she has pitched 126 innings and seven complete games, including one shutout. She has struck out 74 batters and sports a 3.17 ERA.
The Shifflett sisters, Kristie and Amber, lead the Cougars in batting with a .366 and a .335, respectively. The duo also leads in hits and RBI. Amber Shifflett is also a perfect 17-17 on stolen base attempts.
Terri Mesko (11-9) and Shannon Howard (7-11) have shared time in the circle for Charleston this season. Mesko leads with a 3.15 ERA and 117 strikeouts. She has pitched 140 innings and 13 complete games while Howard has pitched 109.1 innings and seven complete games. She sports a 4.03 ERA and has 78 strikeouts on the year.
First pitch for game two is set for 11 a.m. CT. The winner of the contest will go on to play the winner of game three which features No. 3-seed Appalachian State and No. 6-seed UNC Greensboro. The losers of each meeting will go to the loser's bracket and play in game six on May 7 at 9 a.m.
Fans can follow all the action via live stats through links on www.soconsports.com. A full recap and results will be available on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of each game that Samford plays.
