FULL GAME NOTES (PDF)
'DOGS READY FOR MIDWEEK WKU DOUBLEHEADER
Samford Softball will travel to Bowling Green, Ky., for a midweek doubleheader with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Wednesday, April 10. First pitch of game one is set for 4 p.m. CT.
OPPONENT SCOUTING REPORT
Western Kentucky (20-13, 9-3 Sun Belt) - The Hilltoppers have outperformed their sixth-place preseason rank in the Sun Belt so far this season, winning all three of their three-game conference series, including ones against 15th-ranked Louisiana Lafayette and 25th-ranked South Alabama. Most recently, Western Kentucky took a tough pair of losses at eighth-ranked Texas, falling 4-0 and 3-1 last weekend. Sophomore Preslie Cruce is pacing the offense with a .378 average, 37 hits and nine doubles while junior Amanda Thomas has provided the power bat with a team-leading eight home runs and 30 RBI. Junior Emily Rousseau (11-5, 2.12 ERA) has accounted for over half of their wins in the circle with a team-leading 115.2 innings as well as four saves and 133 strikeouts.
ALL-TIME VERSUS WESTERN KENTUCKY
Western Kentucky holds the slight 5-4 edge in the team's nine meetings, including the past three-straight. Samford's last victory in the series was a 4-3 win in 2011. The Bulldogs won the first four meetings before the Hilltoppers finally won in 2004 and Samford's win in 2011 is the only one since.
BICE BREAKS INTO SOCON RANKINGS
With 41.0 innings of work under her belt, freshman
Caitlin Bice now meets the minimum of at least 1.0 innings pitched per team game to be ranked among the other SoCon pitchers. She currently leads the SoCon in hits allowed (32), runs allowed (18) and earned runs allowed (13). She is second in walks allowed (12), only trailing teammate
Misha Aldridge (11), and is fourth in ERA (2.22) and fifth in opposing batting average (.216).
KEY THREE-WEEK STRETCH FOR DOWDY
Among the current active roster, Samford freshman
Megan Dowdy now leads the team with a .287 average thanks in large part to a key stretch of games over the past three weeks. Starting with the Tuesday, March 19 game at Memphis, Dowdy has hit safely in nine of the past 11 games, including multi-hit games against Jacksonville State and the College of Charleston. She posted a six-game hitting streak as well, tying her with
Alex Adams for the longest hitting streak on the team all season. During the 11-game stretch, she drew three walks in addition to 12 hits, posting a .385 on base percentage, while only striking out twice in 36 at-bats.
'DOGS BOUNCE BACK FOR GAME THREE WIN
Last weekend, Samford dropped its two opening games to the College of Charleston before bouncing back with a 3-1 victory in game three to avoid the sweep.
Samford had the potential go-ahead run on base late in both of Saturday's games versus the College of Charleston but ultimately could not capitalize on the scoring opportunities in either, falling 3-2 in extra innings in game one and 4-2 in game two.
In game three, Samford got the early lead and held it for the two-run victory. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for Samford and gave the Bulldogs their third conference win of the season. An efficient Samford offense only left two runners on base, their lowest total in a victory this year since the season-opening win against Florida Atlantic on Feb. 8.
WEDNESDAY WEATHER OUTLOOK
Wednesday, April 10 - Bowling Green, Ky.
High: 83, Low: 66
Isolated Thunderstorms
UP NEXT
Samford will head to Statesboro, Ga., to take on the defending SoCon Champion Georgia Southern Eagles. The teams will play a three-game series beginning with a 1 p.m. ET doubleheader on Saturday, April 13 and concluding with a single game at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 14.
