March 25, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team will continue its 13-game homestand this weekend as the Bulldogs play host to Western Carolina for a Southern Conference weekend series. The Bulldogs and Catamouts will play two games on Saturday and one on Sunday.
Samford and Western Carolina have only met six times in program history, starting in 2009 when the Bulldogs entered the Southern Conference. The Bulldogs lead the series, 5-1, having won the last five meetings after losing the inaugural meeting in 2009.
In conference play, Samford (5-24, 2-4 SoCon) comes off its first league series win as the Bulldogs took two of three from Furman last weekend. The Bulldogs and Paladins split the Saturday doubleheader before Samford won the Sunday game on a walk-off two-run double by Robyn Harmon. The game-one win against Furman snapped an 11-game losing streak for the Bulldogs.
Harmon leads all starters with a .362 batting average and a .603 slugging percentage. She boasts a team-high 21 hits on the season including four doubles, two triples and two home runs. She is also tied with Amanda Jordan in RBI with nine. Jordan has been a force for the Bulldogs at the plate recently, hitting three home runs in the last week. All three were also lead-off hits for the Bulldogs.
Kayla Burris (3-10) leads all Bulldog pitchers in strikeouts with 43 on the year, and she also holds a 5.21 ERA. Nicole Bobrowski (2-4) and Harmon (0-8) follow with 17 each while Bobrowski boasts the team's lowest ERA with 4.52.
Western Carolina (13-17, 0-6 SoCon) has lost nine of its last ten games and its last seven straight. The Catamounts were swept by Furman in the conference season opener and by Georgia Southern at home last weekend.
The Catamounts have five starters batting over .300. Kelly Braman leads with a .369 average and a team-high three home runs followed by Jordan Fulton with a .344 average and a team-high 31 hits. Fulton also leads in stolen bases with nine on 13 attempts. Morgan Wyatt (.341) and Haley Pace (.256) lead the team in RBI with 16.
Katie King (6-8) boasts the Catamounts' lowest ERA (2.95) and a team-high 45 strikeouts in 83 innings. She has pitched five complete games including one shutout.
Saturday's doubleheader will start at 1 p.m. CT followed by the second game approximately 30 minutes after the first game's conclusion. Saturday will also be "Whitney Terry Day". Fans will be able to collect the Whitney Terry trading card and Terry will be recognized on the field before the first game. Sunday's game will start at 1 p.m.
Admission for the weekend series is free and fans that are not able to attend the game can also follow the action via live video streaming on a subscription basis at www.samfordsports.com. A full recap and final statistics will also be available at the conclusion of each day's action.
