April 21, 2012

Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- Samford softball struggled against a potent Chattanooga lineup Saturday, as the Lady Mocs shutout the Bulldogs in two games, 9-0 and 14-0, Saturday.

Samford (11-33, 4-13 SoCon) totaled 10 hits between the two games, with Misha Aldridge and Shelby Scott earning two each. Julianne Surane extended her hitting streak to 10 games with a hit in game one but could not move it to 11 games, as she went 0-3 in game two. Her streak is the longest one for Samford since 2009. Chattanooga (30-14, 13-2 SoCon) showed their offensive prowess, earning 23 runs on 26 hits including three home runs.

Game One: Chattanooga 9, Samford 0 (5 Innings)

An early lead gave the Lady Mocs enough cushion for the rest of the game, as they shutout Samford 9-0 in five innings. Nicole Bobrowski (1-5) took the loss for Samford in the circle, allowing six runs in 1.2 innings. The Lady Mocs' offense was led by Michelle Fuzzard, going 4-4 at the plate while Taylor Deason (17-7) earned the win in the circle.

Chattanooga batted around the order in the first two innings and brought eight to the plate in the third, plating nine runs to take a 9-0 lead after three innings. Samford stranded a runner in scoring position in the fourth inning and in the fifth, needing at least two runs to prevent the run rule, the Bulldogs threatened with the bases loaded and one out. However, Fuzzard came in to pitch and struck out the remaining two batters to end the game after five innings.

Game Two: Chattanooga 14, Samford 0 (5 Innings)

The Chattanooga offense didn't let down in game two as they exploded for 14 runs, defeating the Bulldogs 14-0 in five innings. Samford was limited to only three hits, with Scott collecting two. Robyn Harmon (3-7) took the loss in game two, throwing 3.0 innings with nine earned runs. Fuzzard (12-6) earned the win in the circle for Chattanooga while Ninjja Suetsugu and Layne Rainey each earned three hits for the Lady Mocs.

Down 9-0 in the bottom of the third, the Bulldogs earned their first hits of the game to put two runners on base with one out. Consecutive infield pop-ups ended the inning however and the Lady Mocs extended their lead to 14-0 courtesy of a five-run rally in the top of the fourth inning. The Bulldogs downed Chattanooga 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth and needed to score at least seven runs to stay alive in the bottom half of the inning. Shelby Scott knocked in a leadoff single and eventually advanced to second, but the offense could not bring her home as the game ended after five innings.

The series concludes tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.