April 17, 2011

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team used a five-run rally in the fourth inning of Sunday's Southern Conference series finale with Elon to break up a tie ballgame and head towards a 10-2 win at Bulldog Field. The Bulldogs scored nine runs in the last three innings to win their third league series and their seventh game in the all-time series with the Phoenix.

"It was a great weekend for us and this was a big win," Samford head coach Stephanie VanBrakle said. "Elon's a good team. They went to regionals last year and they swing the bat well, so I thought for us to come out today and score as many runs as we did was a big key for us because we had trouble hitting off Lauren Taylor in the second game yesterday."

After giving up a lead-off home run in the first inning, Samford pitcher Kayla Burris (8-12) settled into a rhythm and pitched her 14th complete game of the season, giving up just one earned run on six hits while fanning three batters. She earned her eighth win of the season and the 21st of her career.

"KB (Burris) pitched well in the first game yesterday and came out and got the win for us," VanBrakle said, "and today, the first pitch where she gave up the home run was fat, but after that she seemed to calm down a little bit. She has gotten so much better since January to now, and we are going to have to rely on her to get the first and third game for us for the rest of the year."

Samford matched the Phoenix's run in the bottom of the first, as Elon pitcher Taylor hit Lakan Smith with the bases loaded to bring in Kayla Shaffer.

The next two innings were quiet as Elon got only one hit in the second and retired the Bulldogs in order while the Bulldogs allowed a walk in the third and Amanda Jordan walked in the bottom of the inning.

In the top of the fourth inning, Elon got a runner in scoring position after Kaitlyn Piazzolla doubled with one out and advanced to third on a wild pitch. However, Burris struck out Danielle Lafferty swinging and got Jackie Gonzalez to ground out to end the inning.

Smith walked to lead off the bottom of the inning and was replaced by Madeline Baker as a pinch runner. Next, Fisher reached first base when the third baseman bobbled the bunted ball, and Arica Dykes drove in Baker from second with a deep single up the middle to take a 2-1 lead. Shaffer followed with an almost identical hit to drive in Fisher for the third run, and Brianna Chambers grounded out to third base to move the runners to second and third.

Harmon then stepped up with a single, advanced to second on the throw and moved to third on an error by the catcher. Meanwhile, Shaffer and Dykes scored to extend the Bulldog lead to 5-1. After the second pitching change of the inning, Jordan reached on an error by Elon's third baseman and drove in Harmon to make it a 6-1 ballgame. Alex Adams flied out to center field to end the inning.

The Bulldogs added another run in the fifth inning when Dykes singled with the bases loaded to drive in Fisher. Elon scored their second run of the game in the top of the sixth when Morgan Wright scored as Piazzolla tried to steal second base and reached on an error by the second basemen.

Samford scored three more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning when Nicole Bobrowski came into pinch hit for Fisher, and she singled with runners on the corners to drive in Julianne Surane to take an 8-2 lead. Two at-bats later, Tessa Frates pinch hit for Dykes and knocked a single down the left field line to move Fisher to third and drive in Smith for the ninth run of the game. Fisher scored the game's final run on a throwing error by the second baseman when Shaffer reached on a fielder's choice. The game was over after six innings with the Bulldogs taking the 10-2 victory.

Shaffer and Dykes led the Bulldogs at the plate in the series finale. Shaffer went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI while Dykes was 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI. Harmon was 1-for-3 with a run and two RBI while Smith went 1-for-2 with a run and an RBI. Chambers, Bobrowski, Allison Reynolds and Frates also each accounted for a hit.

"When we came back in the fourth and got a rally going, Arica came through after we left the bases loaded in the first and she took it up the middle and it just seemed to catch on after that," VanBrakle said. "I thought Shaffer hit the ball well, Robyn had a good hit that scored the extra two runs to give us some cushion. AJ ( Jordan) got hit and walked to get on base, which was good, and Lakan got a good shot. Reynolds had a good hit; it just seemed like, one through nine, we were finally getting hits with runners on and we were scoring."

Piazzolla led the Phoenix, going 3-for-3 at the plate. Carleigh Nester was 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI while Caitlin McGowan and Tomeka Watson also went 1-for-3.

Taylor (11-8) took the loss for the Phoenix, giving up two earned runs on four hits with four strikeouts and four walks. Erin O'Shea also spent time in the circle, giving up two earned runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning. Pam DelPizzo pitched one-third of an inning and gave up two unearned runs on three hits.

The Bulldogs are back on the road next weekend as they travel to Appalachian State, April 22-23. The Bulldogs will play a doubleheader on Friday and a single game on Saturday.