May 7, 2009

Box Score

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ---- The Samford softball team scored five unanswered runs on Thursday to upset No. 2 seed College of Charleston, 6-1, in the first round of the 2009 Southern Conference Softball Championship. The win marks the Bulldogs' 20th win of the season.

"We played very well against a hot College of Charleston team," Samford head coach Beanie Ketcham said. "Our pitching kept us in the game and we played good defense and had timely hitting. I am proud of how they took control of the game and never let them back in. It was a big first win."

Samford (20-28) plated its first run of the game in the first inning when Jessica Owens scored on a wild pitch. College of Charleston (23-25) answered in the third inning to tie the game at one when Amber Shifflett doubled to right field before advancing home on a passed ball. The Bulldogs then scored what turned out to be the winning run in fourth inning when freshman Amy Gonzalez singled to bring in Bulldog catcher Whitney Terry to put the Bulldogs up, 2-1.

Samford then added to their lead in the fifth inning when they scored four runs to extend their lead to 6-1. The Bulldogs led off the inning with three straight doubles by Katie England, Kristy Lawrence and Robyn Harmon, scoring two runs. Later in the inning, with two outs, Owens singled to drive in a pair of runs to score the game's last two runs.

The Bulldogs will now advance to the winner's bracket and face No. 3 seed Appalachian State at 6 p.m. tonight on field one at Warner Park in Chattanooga. College of Charleston drops to the loser's bracket and will face No. 6 seed UNC Greensboro, at 4 p.m.

Owens led the Bulldogs, going 1-for-3 while recording a pair of RBI. Robyn Harmon was 2-for-4 at the plate and scored a run. Shifflett led the Cougars in a 3-for-4 effort at the plate on the day while scoring Charleston's only run of the game.

Stephanie Royall (9-9) earned the win for Samford, pitching 2.4 innings and striking out two batters while walking three. She only gave up three hits on the day. Royall relieved Amanda Barrs who pitched the first two and one-third innings of the game before giving up the Cougars' only run on six hits. She struck out one batter and walked one.

Terri Mesko (11-10) took the loss for the Cougars as she gave up three runs on three hits and walked five batters in the first four innings. Shannon Howard pitched the final three innings and gave up three runs on five hits while striking out two batters.

SoCon.TV will not be available for tonight's game but fans can follow the action via live stats through links at www.soconsports.com. A full recap and results will be available on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of the game tonight.