April 30, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team will close out its seven-game road swing Saturday as it travels to Western Carolina for a weekend series. The Bulldogs and the Catamounts will play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 12 p.m. CDT, and a single game on Sunday beginning at 11 a.m.
Last season marked the first time in school history that the Bulldogs and the Catamounts met up on the softball diamond. Samford hosted Western Carolina late in the season and earned the series win after taking two out of three games from the Catamounts. After losing the first game of a Saturday doubleheader, 6-3, the Bulldogs charged back to take the final two games of the series, 8-4 and 6-5.
Samford (14-30, 5-13 SoCon) comes off a tough midweek loss to in-state rival Jacksonville State Wednesday night. Freshman catcher Anna Kimbrell hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to tie the score at two but the Gamecocks tacked on another run in the next inning to give JSU the 3-2 win.
Most recently in league play, Samford took one of three from Elon last weekend. The Phoenix won the Saturday doubleheader opener, 5-3, and Samford took the Saturday closer, 2-1. But Elon secured the series win with an 8-4 victory in the third game.
The Bulldogs are still led by redshirt freshman Alex Adams who boasts a .262 average at the plate along with team highs in doubles (8), home runs (6) and RBI (23). However, Kimbrell has recently crawled out of a hitting slump and has batted .381 in the last eight games. The freshman from Ft. Mill, S.C., has had back-to-back games with a home run. Her two-run homer against Jacksonville State was the first multi-run home run of her career. She now has three home runs on the season.
Senior right-handed pitcher Stephanie Royall leads all active pitchers with a 2.82 ERA and a 7-8 record in the circle. She has pitched five complete games including three shutouts and has recorded 44 strikeouts on the season in 96.2 innings. Junior reliever Kayla Burris boasts a 3.50 ERA in 30 innings and has struck out 20 batters on the year. She has a 1-2 record on the year but has earned two saves within the last two weeks.
It has been two weeks since Western Carolina (10-37, 2-15 SoCon) has been in Southern Conference play. The Catamounts come off two midweek losses to Middle Tennessee State after sweeping Winston-Salem State and grabbing an 11-2 victory over Mars Hill in five innings.
The last time out in league play, WCU dropped two games of a three-game series to UNC Greensboro. The Catamounts won the second game in a 4-1 decision but dropped the first and third in five innings by scores of 15-1 and 17-1.
The Catamounts are led by Amber Hawkins who boasts a .434 batting average over 19 games. She has 13 RBI on 23 hits, five of which are doubles and three are home runs. Jordan Fulton is one of three players who have started all 46 games for WCU. She is batting .313 and leads the team in stolen bases with 16.
Katie King (2-21) and Amber Steinhardt (7-13) share time as the starter in the pitcher's circle for the Catamounts. King boasts a 5.32 ERA and has started 22 games. She has recorded 55 strikeouts in 123.2 innings. Steinhardt has a 6.24 ERA and has started 22 games. She has recorded 50 strikeouts in 116.2 innings.
Fans can follow all of the action via Gametracker through links at www.samfordsports.com and www.catamountsports.com. A full recap and box score will be available on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of each day's action.
