Oct. 13, 2011

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team posted a walk-off 5-4 victory over Shelton State Thursday in a fall ball game under the lights at Bulldog Field. Nicole Bobrowski pitched the full seven innings and Arica Dykes knocked in the walk-off single over the second baseman's head to bring in Caroline Seay for the winning run.

"I'm proud of the way we fought back," said Head Coach Mandy Burford. "This is the second game this fall we've had to come back and win in the last two innings so I'm proud of our team's fight. We were playing with only 10 healthy players so everyone was out of their comfort zone. This game exposed a lot of our weaknesses, so we know the work we need to do the rest of the fall and later heading into the season."

Dykes' walk-off single was her second hit of the game, as she led the offense with a 2-3 performance. The bottom third of the lineup earned all five RBI, with Madeline Baker and Caroline Seay knocking in two a piece, Baker off a two-run homer in the fifth. Shelton State had many opportunities to score, earning nine hits and drawing three walks, but ultimately their four runs proved one too few.

The Samford offense had a slow start, as Shelton State's Kristina Kelly pitched a perfect three innings to start the game. The Shelton State offense posted a run in the third and added two more in the top of the fourth, taking the early 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the fifth, Casey Clark reached on a fielder's choice off the new pitcher, Alise Altman, and the Baker blasted a long ball over the right-center fence to bring the Bulldogs within one, down 3-2. Shelton State drove in another in the top of the sixth to extend their lead to two runs.

In the bottom of the seventh, a walk followed by an error by the Shelton State second baseman put Bobrowski and Rachel Bickert on base. With two on and two out, Seay unloaded the bases with a double to left-center and Dykes followed with the shallow single to bring in the winning run.