FULL GAME NOTES (PDF)

SOFTBALL SET TO PLAY FOUR IN SPARTANBURG
Samford (2-3) will travel to Spartanburg, S.C., this week as USC-Upstate hosts the Firehouse Subs Spartan Invitational.  The Bulldogs will play four games over three days starting with Winthrop on Friday, Feb. 15 at 4 p.m. ET.  On Saturday, Samford plays a mid-morning game against George Washington at 10 a.m. ET.  Two games on Sunday, Feb. 17 close out the tournament as Samford faces Bowling Green (9 a.m. ET) and USC-Upstate (1 p.m. ET).

SAMFORD VS. USC-UPSTATE TO BE LIVE STREAMED
Samford's match against USC-Upstate will be live streamed for free on the A-Sun conference's video streaming website, www.asun.tv.

OPPONENT SCOUTING REPORT
Winthrop (1-3) - The Eagles opened their season at the Red and Black Showcase, hosted by the University of Georgia.  Winthrop's sole win in the tournament came against Elon, 4-1, but they lost two to Ohio State, 17-5 and 4-3, and one to Georgia, 5-3.  Kelsey Ritter, Chelsey Schoenfeldt and Haley Zuehlke are the early leaders at the plate, as they each collected four hits including two home runs by Schoenfeldt.  Sutton Watson has started two games in the circle for Winthrop, owning a 1-1 record with a 3.07 ERA over 13.2 innnigs of work.

George Washington (1-2) - The Colonials opened the season with an 8-0 run-rule shutout over Seton Hall at the Hampton Inn Invitational, but fell in consecutive games to Robert Morris, 5-1, and host team Campbell, 11-1.  The team is coming off a successful 2012 campaign, earning a school-record 25 wins en route to finishing as the runner-up in the A-10 conference tournament.  Carlee Gray (.429) and Chelsea Lenhart (.273) each collected three hits in the opening weekend, while Victoria Valos drove in three of the team's nine RBI.  Meghan Rico started two of the three games, going 1-1 with a 2.86 ERA.

Bowling Green (0-0) - This will be the opening weekend for the Bowling Green Falcons, who are picked to win the East Division of the Mid-American Conference.  They finished 36-22 last season, just one win shy of the school record for wins in a season.  Three Falcons hit double-digit home runs last season, led by Hannah Fulk (15) with Katie Yoho and Andrea Arney each hitting ten.  In the circle, both Jamie Kertes and Paris Imholz earned 17 wins with a combined 240 strikeouts.

USC-Upstate (4-0) - The Spartans opened their season by sweeping four opponents at the Subway Upstate Classic.  Sophomore shortstop Maddison Keiffer had a fantastic weekend at the plate, earning A-Sun Player of the Week honors after going 8-10 (.800) with four doubles, two RBI and six runs scored.  Hannah Alexander has earned two starts so far this season, going 2-0 with only one earned run over 12.0 innings pitched with 17 strikeouts.

THERE'S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Samford will be squaring off against three of its four opponents this weekend for the first time in program history.  The Bulldogs have never played against Bowling Green, George Washington or USC-Upstate.  Samford holds a 2-0 all-time record over Winthrop, having met in 1999 and 2006.

FRESHMEN FINDING THEIR STRIDE
Samford's freshmen are already making an immediate impact on the team, as four of the five have earned more than one hit so far this season.  The only one hitless, Caitlin Bice, has not played yet this season due to an offseason injury.  Megan Dowdy is the leader among the freshmen, batting 5-12 (.417) so far this season.  She has hit safely in all but one game this year, including the past three straight.

LATE RALLY GIVES AUBURN 2-1 WIN OVER SAMFORD
Samford traveled to Auburn on a chilly Wednesday night, looking to pull the upset over their in-state SEC foe.  The Bulldogs held the lead late but a sixth-inning rally by Auburn ultimately gave them the slim 2-1 victory over Samford.

Samford (2-3) came close to pulling the upset thanks to another great performance by Mollie Hanson (2-2) in the circle, allowing only two runs off three hits with seven strikeouts.  The offense collected four hits with Casey Clark driving in the Bulldogs' only run of the game in the fifth inning.

Auburn (6-0) stays undefeated on the young season as freshman Hoover, Ala., native Marcy Harper (3-0) earned the win in the circle, allowing one earned run off four hits.  McKenzie Kilpatrick and Caitlin Jordan, batting fourth and fifth, batted in the Tigers' two runs in the bottom of the sixth.

WEEKEND WEATHER OUTLOOK
Spartanburg, S.C.
Friday, Feb. 15 - Sunday, Feb. 17
Average temperature in the low 50s, high of 65
Partly Cloudy
10-15 mph winds

UP NEXT
Samford makes a mid-week trip to Kennesaw, Ga., to face the Kennesaw State Owls (5-0) on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. ET.  Kennesaw State is playing four games this weekend, hosting the KSU Classic.