April 23, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team kicks off a seven-game road swing Saturday and Sunday as it jumps back into Southern Conference play at Elon. The Bulldogs and Phoenix will play a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. CDT Saturday afternoon followed by a single game on Sunday at 12 p.m. as well.
Samford holds a 4-1 series lead over the Phoenix. The last time the two teams met was the last weekend of conference play in 2009 when the Bulldogs took two of three from the Phoenix and earned a guaranteed spot in the conference tournament. Elon took the first game of the series, 2-1, which was the Phoenix's first win over the Bulldogs. However, Samford won the last two games, 6-5 and 6-4, to clinch the series win.
Samford (13-27, 4-11 SoCon) comes off a tough loss at home to cross-town rival UAB on Wednesday. After going nine innings and falling by only one run a week before, the Bulldogs dropped this week's meeting at Bulldog Field, 7-1.
The last time out in league play for the Bulldogs was last weekend when they hosted Georgia Southern for a weekend series. The Bulldogs earned their first series win of the season over the Eagles, winning the last two games of the series, 6-5 (8) and 7-2, after falling in the first, 1-0.
Samford is still led by Alex Adams who ranks at the top of just about every category in the Samford season statistics. She is second on the team in runs (31) and leads in doubles (6), home runs (6), slugging percentage (.478) and total bases (55). She boasts a .270 batting average and has started 39 of 40 contests for Samford.
Aaren Fisher and Amy Gonzalez are climbing up the all-time list for stolen bases in a season. Former Bulldog Jessica Owens holds that record for the 20 she amassed in 2008. So far this season, Fisher boasts 16 while Gonzalez has stolen 13.
Stephanie Royall (6-7) leads the Bulldog pitchers with a 2.71 ERA while pitching five complete games and three shutouts. One strikeout separates Amanda Barrs (2-13) and Robyn Harmon (3-3) for the team leader. Barrs has struck out 42 batters in 81.0 innings while Harmon has recorded 43 strikeouts in 63.1 innings of play.
Elon (31-13, 13-5 SoCon) is currently ranked second in the conference and comes off a series win against top-ranked Chattanooga last weekend. The Phoenix took two out of three from the Lady Mocs before splitting a doubleheader with Charlotte on Thursday.
Four of five Phoenix players who have started every game are batting over .300 on the season. Tomeka Watson leads the pack with a .400 batting average along with 19 RBI on 58 hits. Emerald Graham, a two-time SoCon Player of the Week bats .377 and boasts a team-leading 39 runs and 35 RBI. Jacqueline Gonzalez is batting .313 and leads the team in triples (4) while Caitlyn McGowan is batting .309 and boasts 21 RBI on 30 hits. This week's player of the week, Kaitlyn Piazzolla, is batting .294 and had four home runs over five games last week.
Erin O'Shea leads the Phoenix pitching staff with a 13-5 record and a 2.37 ERA followed by Lauren Taylor with a 14-4 record and a 2.39 ERA. Both pitchers have thrown nine complete games each and O'Shea has pitched four shutouts while Taylor has pitched three. Taylor leads in strikeouts with 86 while O'Shea has recorded 80 on the year.
Action both days begins at 12 p.m. CDT. A full recap and results will be available on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of each day's games.
