Box Score BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- Samford softball clinched its first SoCon series of the season Sunday afternoon at Samford Softball Field, shutting out Elon 3-0 behind yet another great performance by Shelby Scott in the circle.
 
A three-run fourth inning was all Samford (13-31, 5-13 SoCon) needed as the Elon (15-28, 5-13 SoCon) lineup could not get anything going offensively .  After throwing a five-inning no hitter in game one yesterday, Scott (4-13) went the full 7.0 innings Sunday allowing only one hit while stranding five Phoenix base-runners.  Over 14.1 innings pitched this weekend, Scott allowed only five hits and two earned runs.
 
Game-two winner Chelsea White (3-13) took the loss Sunday, throwing the opening 3.1 innings with three earned runs off three hits.  Kayla Caruso threw 2.2 shutout innings behind her but the offense would fail to earn a hit past the fourth inning.
 
Both teams would go hitless through the opening three frames, until Elon's Lauren Oldham broke up the no-hit bid with a one-out single in the top of the fourth.  Oldham would make a costly running mistake in the next at-bat however, as Caitlin O'Shea flied out to Megan Dowdy in left, who caught Oldham too far off first, firing over to Rachel Bickert covering for the 7-3 double play to end the half-inning.
 
Kayla Shaffer broke up White's no-hit bid in the bottom half of the fourth, dropping a leadoff single into shallow right field.  Shaffer stole second and Callie Brister pulled a single through the left side, putting runners at the corners with nobody out.  With Arica Dykes pinch-running for Brister at first, Alex Adams laid down a bunt for the squeeze play, scoring Shaffer while Dykes advanced to third and Adams strolled to second as the Bulldogs led 1-0.  Scott would add another run to help her own cause, hitting a fly ball to center for a sacrifice fly that scored Adams and moved Dykes to third.  Rachel Bickert made it a three-run game with an RBI single into right field, which ended White's outing in the circle.  Caruso entered to stop the bleeding, forcing a popup and lineout as Samford now lead 3-0 heading into the fifth inning.
 
Samford looked to add some insurance in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases with only one out, but a fly ball and popup would prevent the Bulldogs from adding to their 3-0 lead, meaning the potential tying run would be in the hole for Elon in the seventh.  Scott didn't give them any hope for a potential comeback, as the Phoenix went three up, three down with Samford earning the series win.
 
Next weekend, Samford will play their final road conference series of the season with three games against the Chattanooga Mocs.  A doubleheader on Saturday, April 27 is set for a 1 p.m. ET start and the series will conclude on Sunday, April 28 with a single game at 1 p.m.