March 14, 2010

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team split a doubleheader with Appalachian State Sunday in the final day of the season's first Southern Conference series at Bulldog Field. The Bulldogs shut out the Mountaineers, 7-0, in the first game before falling by a score of 5-1 in extra innings in the second game.

Samford (8-10, 1-2 SoCon) bounced back from a 5-2 loss to Appalachian State (11-7, 2-1 SoCon) on Saturday after a long day of rain delays and frigid temperatures. The Bulldogs took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning before adding two more each in the third, fifth and sixth innings to win the first game of the day, 7-0.

With two outs in the bottom of the first inning, Amanda Barrs and Alex Adams walked to set up a scoring opportunity. Amanda Jordan then singled to score Barrs and get the Bulldogs on the board.

In the third inning, the Bulldogs loaded the bases before the Mountaineers could record an out. Still with no outs, Adams singled to the shortstop to allow Amy Gonzalez and Katie England to score and put the Bulldogs up 3-0. The Mountaineers then brought in Frannie Seader to pitch before retiring the next three batters.

Samford then took a 5-0 lead in the third inning after Barrs set up the scoring opportunity with a lead-off double. Tessa Frates walked to put runners on first and second before Anna Kimbrell singled to right field to score Barrs. Aaren Fisher then singled through the left side to score Frates before Seader struck out Kayla Shaffer looking to end the inning.

The Bulldogs tacked on their sixth and seventh runs in the sixth inning when England doubled after Gonzalez walked to lead-off the inning. Gonzalez scored from first base when England advanced to third on the throw from right center. After Barrs grounded out to record the first out of the inning, Adams singled to bring England home to make the score 7-0.

Stephanie Royall (5-2) pitched the complete game and posted her first shutout of the year. She gave up just three hits and walked three batters while striking out one. England, Adams and Fisher each had two hits while Gonzalez, Barrs, Jordan and Kimbrell each had one. Adams had three of Samford's seven RBI while Gonzalez, Jordan, Kimbrell and Fisher all had one each.

"Stephanie (Royall) did a nice job and kept them off balance all day," Samford Head Coach Beanie Ketcham said. "And obviously we hit their pitcher pretty well. Overall on the weekend, I was pleased. I thought we got three quality starts out of (Robyn) Harmon, (Amanda) Barrs and (Stephanie) Royall. That is a really good sign for us."

Hannah Dow pitched two innings for the Mountaineers before being relieved by Frannie Seader. Dow (2-4) took the loss, giving up three earned runs on four hits. Seader struck out four batters and walked three and gave up four earned runs on six hits in four innings. Sarah Rappe, Michelle Lighton, and Hayley Grabner each had a hit for ASU.

In the second game, the Mountaineers scored right out of the gate to take a 1-0 lead. After getting two runners on, the Bulldogs were able to turn those into outs right away. Katie Boyd was walked and then scored from first as Allie Cashion singled and advance to third on a long throw from left field.

Samford answered back in the second inning with a lead-off home run by Adams to tie the game. The teams would play five more scoreless innings before the Mountaineers tacked on four in the top of the eighth to take a 5-1 lead on a grand slam by Lighton.

Amanda Barrs (1-5) took the loss for the Bulldogs, pitching seven full innings and striking out four batters before being relieved by Kayla Burris in the eighth inning. She also gave up four earned runs on 11 hits and walked three batters. Gonzalez, Adams, Jordan and Kimbrell each had a hit for the Bulldogs while Adams was credited with the RBI.

Caitlin Wainright (6-2) earned the win for the Mountaineers, pitching a complete game. She struck out two batters and walked just one while giving up just one earned run on four hits. Megan Rembielak led ASU with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate and one run. Boyd and Cashion each had two hits while Rappe, Lighton, Phillips and Dow each had one hit.

"I thought (Amanda) Barrs pitched really well for us today," Ketcham said. "Defensively, we are just still not picking up our pitchers sometimes. We could've executed a little better in all aspects, it's not all defensive, but in a tight ballgame like that you have to make those plays. They made them and we didn't, and that was the difference in the ballgame."

The Bulldogs head out on a five-game road swing on Wednesday. The first stop for Samford is Georgia State. The Bulldogs will meet up with the Panthers at 3 p.m. on Wednesday before taking on Kennesaw State on Thursday at 2 p.m. Then Samford jumps back into conference play as they take on Furman in Greenville, S.C., with a 3 p.m., game on Friday and a doubleheader on Saturday beginning a noon.