April 20, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team closes out its eight-game homestand Wednesday as it plays host to cross-town rival UAB for a 6 p.m. matchup at Bulldog Field. Thursday's doubleheader with Mississippi Valley State and Jackson State has been canceled.
Samford and UAB have played twice already this season with UAB taking both of those contests. UAB defeated Samford, 8-2, at the Magic City Classic in late February and then knocked off the Bulldogs, 4-3, in a nine-inning affair last Wednesday at the UAB Softball Field. The Bulldogs are looking to take the momentum gained from this weekend's Southern Conference series win over Georgia Southern to extend their winning streak to three games and defend Bulldog Field.
Samford (13-26, 4-11 SoCon) comes off a great weekend in which it secured its first conference series win by taking two of three from Georgia Southern at home. The Bulldogs won the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, 6-5 on a walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth inning after dropping the series opener, 1-0. Samford then grabbed the series win on Sunday with a 7-2 victory over the Eagles.
Kayla Shaffer led the Bulldogs last weekend, batting .375 after batting .000 the weekend before. She posted six hits on 16 appearances at the plate, scoring one run while grabbing a double and four RBI. Robyn Harmon, Alex Adams and Amy Gonzalez continue to lead Samford overall. Harmon has maintained a .352 batting average after being sidelined for a month due to an injury. Adams continues to bat clean-up as she leads all starters in batting (.272), home runs (6), RBI (22) and slugging .482.
Gonzalez has almost caught up with Aaren Fisher in stolen bases as she boasts 13 while Fisher boasts 16 on the year. Gonzalez also has moved into the lead-off position, hitting .268 on the year.
Stephanie Royall leads all active pitchers with a 2.77 ERA and a 6-7 record on the year. In 83.1 innings, she has recorded 35 strikeouts and held opponents to a .253 batting average. Kayla Burris earned her first save of the year this weekend as she closed out Saturday's eight-inning thriller with Georgia Southern.
UAB (28-14, 10-5 C-USA) comes off a huge conference weekend in which it took two of three from Central Florida to move into third place in the C-USA standings. The Blazers will visit Lipscomb Tuesday evening before returning to Birmingham for Wednesday's match-up.
Three Blazers continue to hit over .340 while starting all 42 of UAB's games this season. Mandy Lowman and Martina Landrum are both hitting .366 on the year. Lowman leads the team in home runs (6) and RBI (30) while Landrum leads in runs scored (32) and hits (49) as well as stolen bases (24-of-29). Kayla Orr is third, batting .344.
Lauren Webster and Alisha Smith lead the UAB pitchers with ERAs just under 2.00. Webster boasts a 1.82 ERA and a 13-5 record while leading the Blazers in strikeouts with 138 in 111.1 innings. Smith is just behind with 132 strikeouts in 127.1 innings while sporting a 10-7 record and a 1.98 ERA. Both have pitched two shutouts each while combining for six saves on the year.
Fans can follow Wednesday's meeting with UAB via live stats through links at www.samfordsports.com. A full recap and box score will be posted on www.samfordsports.com upon the conclusion of each day's action.
