April 18, 2012

Box Score

MONTGOMERY, Ala. ---- The Samford softball team took a quick trip to Montgomery, Ala., Wednesday for a midweek matchup against Alabama State, where the Bulldogs defeated the Lady Hornets, 7-3.

Samford (11-31) was led at the plate by Abby Adams, who went 2-4 including four RBI. Julianne Surane went 2-5, extending her hitting streak to nine games, the longest streak for any Bulldog this season. Robyn Harmon (3-6) started her first game in the circle since March 10, earning the win pitching 6.0 innings allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits with two strikeouts. Alabama State (12-28) was led offensively by Ayesha Famble, going 2-3 with one run scored, while starting pitcher Destyni Valencia (1-8) took the loss, throwing 3.1 innings allowing six earned runs.

With two on and two out in the top of the first, a ground ball went under the legs of the third baseman allowing Alex Adams to come home from second and put the Bulldogs up 1-0 early. With two outs and a runner on third in the bottom of the second, consecutive walks loaded the bases for the Lady Hornets, but Harmon struck the batter out on a 3-2 count to strand the runners, preserving the Bulldog lead.

A walk and two singles loaded the bases for the Bulldogs to lead off the top of the third, setting up Abby Adams for a big at bat. She took advantage of the situation, launching a double to the right field gap to bring three runs home, putting Samford up 4-0. A groundout moved Adams to third and another groundout to the right side allowed her to score, moving the Bulldogs up 5-0 with two outs.

In the bottom half of the inning with a runner on second and one out, the Lady Hornets bunted to move her over but an errant throw to first allowed the runner to advance home, giving ASU their first run of the game. They followed that with a single and then a hard double down the left field line brought home another run, but the Bulldogs caught the trailing runner in a rundown, tagging her out at third to end the inning with Samford leading 5-2.

Samford loaded the bases for the second-consecutive inning to lead off the top of the fourth. Harmon moved everyone over with a sacrifice fly to right field, pushing the Bulldogs ahead 6-2. Abby Adams followed with an RBI single up the middle, increasing Samford's lead to 7-2 and putting runners at the corners with nobody out. That run ended the day for ASU's Valencia in the circle, as the Lady Hornets brought in Bailey Patt to pitch. Patt retired the remaining two batters, ending the top half of the inning with Samford leading 7-2.

After two scoreless innings for the Lady Hornets, they ended their drought with a one-out solo homer in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 7-3. The Bulldogs could not add any insurance runs in the top of the seventh, leaving it up to Misha Aldridge to close out the game in the bottom half of the inning. The junior did her job, retiring them 1-2-3 to secure the 7-3 victory.

Next up, the Bulldogs host conference opponent Chattanooga for a three-game series this weekend. Action begins with a double header on Saturday, April 21 at 1 p.m. CT and concludes with a third game at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 22.