May 2, 2010
CULLOWHEE, N.C. ---- The Samford softball team grabbed its first Southern Conference series sweep of the season Sunday in a 9-1 victory in six innings over the Western Carolina Catamounts. It is also the Bulldogs' first-ever sweep in the two years that Samford has been in the league. The Bulldogs improve to 17-30 overall and 8-13 in SoCon play while the Catamounts fall to 10-40 overall and 2-18 in league play.
"I am very proud of these girls," Samford head coach Beanie Ketcham said. "We put together three solid games. We had timely hitting, solid pitching and well executed defense. We had several players who had big weekends at the plate for us and that was a big boost for us."
Samford scored first in the top of the first inning as Aaren Fisher and Amanda Barrs put together two singles to get in scoring position. Alex Adams then singled through the left side to drive home Fisher before Western Carolina could record the third out.
The Bulldogs put up two more runs in the second inning when Fisher doubled to bring in Reeves before Katie England singled to drive in Fisher. Then the Bulldogs took a 4-0 lead in the third when Amanda Jordan scored on a wild pitch but the next two innings would be scoreless for both teams.
Samford scored five in the top of sixth to take a 9-0 lead. The Bulldogs led off the inning with back-to-back bunt singles by Rachael Reeves and Amy Gonzalez to get in scoring position before Fisher singled through the left side to drive home Reeves. Katie England singled to bring in Gonzalez and then Barrs hit a sacrifice fly to drive home Fisher. With two outs and one runner on base, Alex Adams hit a two-run shot to left field with England on base and put the Bulldogs up, 9-0.
The Catamounts finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth when Haley Pace singled to center field with runners on first and second to drive in Danielle Reese. The run would erase Samford's shutout but it would not be enough to send the game to a seventh inning, and the Bulldogs would walk away with a 9-1 victory.
Fisher, England and Adams all went 3-for-4 at the plate for the Bulldogs. Fisher and England each recorded two RBI and Fisher scored three runs while England plated one. Adams recorded three RBI and plated one run while Barrs had the eighth RBI for Samford.
Barrs (4-14) also pitched all six innings and earned her fourth win of the season, giving up just one earned run on five hits.
Jordan Fulton, Pace, Colby Liles, Kristen Gay and Reese each had one hit for the Catamounts while Pace recorded the RBI and Reese plated the run.
Amber Steinhardt (7-15) took the loss, pitching two innings and giving up four earned runs on seven hits while striking out one batter. Katie King then came in and pitched three innings and gave up three earned runs on four hits while striking out two batters. Chere Monday pitched the final inning and gave up two earned runs on two hits.
The Bulldogs return home next weekend to close out the regular season with a three-game series against UNC Greensboro and will honor its four seniors - England, Barrs, Reeves and Stephanie Royall - on Sunday.
