April 17, 2012

Full Release Notes

BULLDOGS HEAD SOUTH TO MONTGOMERY FOR MIDWEEK MATCHUP Samford makes the short trip to Montgomery, Ala, to take on the Alabama State Hornets on Wednesday, April 18 at 5 p.m. CT.

OPPONENT SCOUTING REPORT
Alabama State (12-27, 7-3 SWAC) - The Hornets are currently third in the East Division of the SWAC, sitting at 7-3 in conference play. They started the season only winning two of their first 21 games, but have since moved to 12-27. They have five batters hitting above .300, with Brehanna Rodrigues leading the group with a .418 average with 41 hits in 98 at bats. Sosefina Toilolo (.350) is the team's power leader with 10 doubles, three home runs and 35 RBI. Bailey Patt has seen the most time in the circle, thowing 120.1 innings for a 4.19 ERA.

LAST TIME OUT: SAMFORD SPLITS SATURDAY GAMES WITH FURMAN BUT FALLS IN GAME THREE
Looking to move up in the conference standings late in the season, the Samford softball team split the first two games with Furman but unfortunately dropped the third game courtesy of a late home run by the Paladins. In game one, Furman defeated Samford 8-3, thanks to a five-run fourth inning that gave them enough cushion to outlast some Bulldog runs late in the game. In game two, Samford faced an early 2-0 defecit but managed to score four unanswered runs to eventually win the game, 4-2. Madison Dickey crossed the plate as Samford's first run, courtesy of an RBI single by Robyn Harmon, and in the next inning Dickey drove in the tying run, scoring Arica Dykes from third. A double by Alex Adams would score Dickey to give Samford the lead and a second RBI from Harmon would make the 4-2 edge that would prove final.

Game three was a back-and-forth affair, but a Furman home run following a fielding error would prove the difference in the 4-2 loss. Samford scored first, pulling ahead 1-0 in the top of the first but the Paladins would steal the lead with two unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth. Samford tied the game in the top of the sixth with an RBI single by Abby Adams but Furman took advantage of an error in the bottom half of the inning, knocking a two-run homer on the next at bat to pull ahead 4-2, which proved final.

PLAYING FOR POWER
This past week was a good one for Samford first baseman Alex Adams, as she went 6-15 (.400), including two doubles, a home run and three RBI. Her season average improved by over 20 points, as she moved from .263 to .286. The redshirt junior has provided a quality bat in the lineup this season, as she ranks second on the team in slugging percenage (.407) and third in batting average (.286) and on base percentage (.389).

RETURNING ROBYN
Senior Robyn Harmon looked very sharp in the weekend series against Furman, especially considering it was her first game action since the March 18th game against the College of Charleston because of an ankle injury. The lefty went 5-11 at the plate (.455), including two hits in both of Saturday's games. In her first at bat of the weekend, she launched a double to center field leading off the second inning. She drove in two of Samford's four runs in the game two victory with two singles up the middle in the fourth and fifth innings. She also scored the first run in game three, knocking in a single with two runners on base. This season, she is hitting .253 (21-83) with five doubles, ten RBI, 11 runs scored and eight walks.

WEATHER OUTLOOK: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18
Montgomery, Ala.
Temperatures in the low 70s
Cloudy
High: 76, Low: 58
5 mph wind
Precipitation: 25 percent

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs host Chattanooga for a three-game series this weekend, beginning with a double header on Saturday, April 21 beginning at 1 p.m. CT.