March 5, 2010

Box Score

TEMPE, Ariz. ---- The Samford softball team split a pair of thrilling contests in day one of the Wilson/Demarini Invitational at Arizona State on Friday. The Bulldogs dropped an eight-inning 1-0 decision to Creighton in the first game of the day before taking a 10-inning 11-7 win over Northern Iowa Friday evening.

Against Creighton, Samford (6-6) forced the international tiebreaker after seven scoreless innings on both sides of the ball. In the top of the eighth inning, Samford failed to get its extra runner home as the Blue Raiders retired the first three Samford batters. Creighton then ended the game with a walk-off double to bring home the runner on second.

Robyn Harmon (1-2) took the loss for the Bulldogs. She pitched her second complete game of the season, striking out four batters and giving up just one unearned run on four hits. Amanda Barrs led the Bulldogs, going 2-for-3 at the plate while Harmon and Anna Kimbrell had the other two hits for Samford.

Tara Oltman (5-2) grabbed the win for Creighton in the circle. She pitched four innings of relief, giving up just one hit and striking out three batters. Four Blue Raiders had one hit in the contest. Renae Sinkler, Creighton's best hitter, had the game-winning double.

In the second game against Northern Iowa, the Bulldogs took a quick 5-0 lead after two innings. Samford scored one in the top of the first inning when Amy Gonzalez came home as Katie England grounded out to first base. The Bulldogs then added four more in the second inning. With two outs, Tessa Frates singled up the middle before Rachael Reeves singled to right field and advanced to second base on an error by the right fielder. With runners in scoring position, Gonzalez singled to score Frates then Harmon brought in Reeves and Gonzalez to make it a 4-0 game. The last Bulldog run of the inning was scored when Barrs singled to bring home Harmon.

The Panthers got on the board when Mackenzie Daigh singled with the bases loaded. NIU then tied the ballgame with a follow-up grand slam by Jen Larsen before Samford could record the final two outs of the inning.

The score stayed tied at five for the next five innings, forcing the game into extra inning. Each team put a run on the board in the eighth inning before going scoreless in the ninth.

Finally in the tenth inning, Samford tacked on five to take an 11-6 lead. With one out and runners on second and third, Gonzalez reached first base on an error by the second baseman before advancing to second base on an error by the catcher and then advancing to third. Meanwhile, the runners advance, scoring Reeves and Amanda Jordan. Harmon then walks before England singles to bring home Gonzalez. Barrs doubled to left center, scoring England and Harmon, before the Panthers could end the inning.

NIU scored one more run in the bottom of the inning to bring the final score to 11-7, but the Bulldogs were able to hold the lead to grab their sixth win of the season.

Barrs led the Bulldogs again with a 2-for-5 performance and three RBI. England was 3-for-6 with one run and two RBI while Gonzalez was 2-for-5 with three runs and two RBI. Harmon added two hits, two runs and three RBI in four at-bats while Frates added a hit and a run and Reeves had a hit and three runs.

Stephanie Royall (5-1) earned the win after retiring the final two batters. Barrs started the game, striking out three batters and giving up five runs on 10 hits in four innings of play. Harmon pitched the next six innings, striking out five, walking three and giving up just two unearned runs on two hits.

Melissa Tillett (2-3) took the loss after giving up six unearned runs on four hits in eight and one-third innings of play. She also struck out five batters and walked three.

Larsen led the Panthers, going 4-for-6 at the plate with one run and six RBI. Kim Wachholder was 2-for-4 on the night and Sarah Bakey went 3-for-5. Hannah Borschellf had two runs on two hits in four at-bats for NIU.

Samford is back in action Saturday as it takes on No. 9 Arizona State at 4:30 p.m. CST, before finishing the day out against UC Santa Barbara at 8:30 p.m. A full recap and results will be available on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of the day's action.