FULL GAME NOTES (PDF)

SOFTBALL CONTINUES SOCON SEASON AT APPALACHIAN STATE
Softball continues the 2013 SoCon season with a road trip to Boone, N.C., to face the Appalachian State Mountaineers in a three-game series this weekend.  The teams will play a double-header on Saturday, March 16 beginning at 1 p.m. ET and will conclude with a single game on Sunday, March 17 at 1 p.m. ET.

OPPONENT SCOUTING REPORT
Appalachian State (7-8, 2-1 SoCon) - The Mountaineers are now one game under .500 this season, winning four of their last five after starting the season 3-7.  They opened conference play taking two out of three from Western Carolina, defeating them 6-1 and 5-4 before falling 13-4 in the finale.  The weekend series against Samford will be their first home contest of the 2013 season.  Preseason SoCon Player of the Year Allie Casion has been their offensive catalyst, batting .421 (16-38) with five doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI.  Two of those home runs came during the Western Carolina series, where she batted .600 helping her earn SoCon Player of the Week honors.  Lindsay Loudermilk (.362) and Ashley Seering (.324) are also batting over .300 with Loudermilk leading the team in hits (17) and RBI (12).  Shivaun Landeros (3-3, 4.08 ERA) and Alissa Schoelkopf (4-4, 5.09 ERA) have seen nearly the same amount of time in the circle as the pitching has struggled a bit this season with a team ERA of 5.08.

ALL-TIME VERSUS APPALACHIAN STATE
The two teams have met 14 times since Samford joined the SoCon in the 2009 season, as Appalachian State holds the 9-5 edge in the all-time series.  Samford went 1-8 in the regular season against the Mountaineers from 2009-2011 and won their first-ever series against them last season, taking two out of three games in Birmingham.  The teams have met twice in postseason play and Samford has won both contests, a 3-1 win in 2009 and a 6-3 win in 2011.

MOLLIE HANSON NAMED SOCON PITCHER OF THE WEEK
After throwing the first no-hitter at Samford in seven years, sophomore Mollie Hanson was named the SoCon Pitcher of the Week, announced by the conference office Tuesday.
 
Hanson helped the Bulldogs avoid the series sweep from UNCG, winning Sunday's game 5-0 behind a no-hit performance in the circle.  A potent Spartan offense that had tallied 13 runs the previous day was limited to only three base runners with only one of those ever reaching scoring position.  That came in the bottom of the third with two outs, as Hanson would go on to retire the next 13-straight batters to earn the no-hitter.

She's only the second pitcher in the SoCon this season to throw a no-hitter, as Georgia Southern's Sarah Purvis threw a perfect game against Southern Illinois on February 15.

SHELBY SEEING THE BALL
Shelby Scott saw her first at-bats of the 2013 season last weekend at UNCG and, in a small sample size, has shown an improved eye for the ball.  Last season, she struck out about 30 percent of the time, 39 out of 132 at bats.  This season, she has only struck out twice in nine at bats, about 22 percent of the time.  Extrapolated over 132 at-bats, her projected total this season would only be 29, ten less than last year.  Taking strikeouts out of the equation, her batting average on balls put in play (BABIP) this season is .429, which ranks second on the team and is a large improvement over her 2012 BABIP of .308.

TOP 100 TEAM RANKINGS
The NCAA released its first national rankings of the 2013 season last Monday and the Bulldogs are among the top 100 in two categories.  Prior to the Alabama State game, Samford held a .964 fielding percentage which led the SoCon and ranked 83rd nationally.  Their team ERA of 2.51 ranked 73rd nationally and was third in the SoCon.  Both of those numbers have improved since the Alabama State game, with a current fielding percentage of .966 and a team ERA of 2.37.

SAMFORD SHUTS OUT ALABAMA STATE, 3-0, ON THE ROAD
Samford played Alabama State in a midweek matchup Tuesday, shutting out the Hornets, 3-0.
 
Samford (9-10) earned its ninth win of the season behind 4.2 solid innings out of Mollie Hanson (7-8) and 2.1 from Misha Aldridge.  Alex Adams, Shelby Scott and Arica Dykes each earned a pair of hits, accounting for six of the team's nine hits.
 
Alabama State (1-21) committed three errors and could only muster four hits, failing to capitalize on any of their scoring opportunities.  Melissa Christmann (0-5) allowed the opening run, throwing 4.0 innings in the loss.

WEEKEND WEATHER OUTLOOK
Boone, N.C.
Saturday, March 16 - H61, L44.  Isolated T-Storms
Sunday, March 17 - H53, L41.  Showers.

UP NEXT
With Samford students on spring break, the Bulldogs will play back-to-back road games next week, facing Memphis (11-14) on Tuesday, Feb. 19 (5 p.m. ET) and Ole Miss (18-12) on Wednesday, Feb. 20 (6 p.m. CT).