March 22, 2012

Box Score

KENNESAW, Ga. ---- Samford softball was defeated by Kennesaw State Thursday as the Bulldogs fell, 10-2, in six innings.

Samford (6-22) struggled offensively, as Kennesaw State (16-12) starting pitcher Amanda Henderson threw a two-hit game. As the first two in the batting order, Julianne Surane and Madison Dickey accounted for Samford's two hits. Nicole Bobrowski takes the loss in the circle, falling to 0-3 this season while Henderson moves to 7-4.

The Bulldogs only run came in the top of the first inning. Surane led the game off hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a wild pitch and then to third on a Dickey groundout to second. Alex Adams hit a hard ground ball to the left side and Surane slid under the putout attempt at home as Adams reached on a fielder's choice. The Owls' pitcher Henderson struck out the next two batters, limiting the damage to one run.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the second, Kennesaw State's Carly Van Auken hit a deep double to center field, bringing home all three runners and giving them the 3-1 lead. Natalie Rhodes followed that with an RBI double that just stayed fair down the right-field line, pushing their lead to 4-1.

Henderson pitched four innings of lights-out softball in the circle for the Owls, retiring 12 straight as no Bulldog got on base from the second through the fifth inning.

The Owls added another run in the bottom of the fifth, as Sharon Swanson knocked a solo home run to center field, pushing their lead to 5-1. That ended the day for Samford starter Bobrowski, who had five earned runs and five hits through 4.1 innings pitched. Shelby Scott, pitching in relief, walked two batters and they both advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch. Lindsay Vollmer brought them home with a hard single to center field, giving them the 7-1 lead. With the bases loaded, Kennesaw State drew a walk to add one more run to move to 8-1, but a groundout to Rachel Bickert at third would give the Bulldogs another chance, as the Owls couldn't secure the run-rule victory.

With one out in the sixth, Surane chopped an infield single to third base, breaking up Henderson's no-hitter. Dickey followed that up with a double to left-center, bringing the speedy Surane all the way home from first, as they cut the deficit to 8-2.

In the bottom of the sixth, a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to center field would bring in the runner from third, extending the Owls' lead to 9-2. A wild pitch would move the two runners into scoring position and a walk would load the bases with one out. Another walk would bring home the game-winning run, as the Owls earned the six-inning run rule victory by a score of 10-2.

Next up, Samford continues conference play with a three-game series at Elon, beginning with a noon CT double-header on Saturday, March 24.