FULL GAME NOTES (PDF)

'DOGS SET FOR SENIOR DAY AND REGULAR SEASON FINALE
Samford Softball closes the regular season this weekend with a three-game series against the Furman Paladins.  Action at Samford Softball Field begins on Saturday, May 4 with a doubleheader at 1 p.m.  Saturday is also Senior Day, as the Bulldogs will honor their five seniors in a pregame ceremony.  The series concludes with a single game on Sunday, May 5 at 1 p.m.

OPPONENT SCOUTING REPORT
Furman (25-24, 8-10 SoCon) - Riding a three-game winning streak, the Paladins are now one game above .500.  The first of the three wins snapped a six-game losing streak, including a sweep at the hands of Appalachian State.  Despite an 8-10 record in SoCon play, the Paladins have performed well against some of the top teams, winning series against Chattanooga, UNCG and Georgia Southern.  Hitting .257 as a team, sophomore Ambree Muller leads the offense with a .312 average, 44 hits and eight homers.  Furman leads the SoCon with a 2.29 team ERA with junior Lauren Collier (13-10, 1.84 ERA) and freshman Meaghan Houston (8-7, 2.65 ERA) each throwing over 100.0 innings this season while also combining for a conference-leading six saves.

ALL-TIME VERSUS FURMAN
Furman holds the slight edge in the all-time series over Samford, winning 19 of their 33 meetings.  Since Samford joined the SoCon in 2009, the Bulldogs have won six of their 13 games including a 3-2 victory in the opening game of last season's SoCon Tournament.  The teams have gone back and forth with the regular season series, as Samford won in 2009 and 2011 while Furman won in 2010 and 2012.

SATURDAY IS SENIOR DAY
Saturday will be Senior Day at Samford Softball Field, as the Bulldogs will honor Alex Adams, Misha Aldridge, Madeline Baker, Casey Clark and Kayla Shaffer in a pregame ceremony.

NO-HITTER HELPS SCOTT EARN PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Three stellar starts against Elon for Shelby Scott, including a no-hitter, helped the sophomore earn SoCon Pitcher of the Week honors last week.  This is the first such honor for the sophomore and the second Pitcher of the Week award this season for Samford.

Samford took a 10-0 run rule victory in game one of last weekend's series vs. Elon as Scott threw 5.0 hitless innings for her first career no-hitter.  It is the second no-hitter so far this season for Samford, as Mollie Hanson threw one in a 5-0 victory at UNCG on March 10.  Besides Sarah Purvis' perfect game for Georgia Southern earlier this season, Hanson and Scott are the only other SoCon pitchers to throw a no-hitter this season.

After taking a loss in a close 2-0 battle in game two, Scott bounced back in her third start of the weekend by only allowing one hit over 7.0 innings in game three as the Bulldogs defeated the Phoenix 3-0 to take the series.  Over the weekend, Scott threw 14.1 innings allowing only five hits and two earned runs.


BIG BATS BACK UP DOMINANT PITCHING
While Scott was shutting down the Phoenix in the circle, the Bulldog bats were giving her some room to work with plenty of highlights of their own...
- The 13 runs scored over the weekend is Samford's highest output in any SoCon series so far this season.
- The 10 runs scored in game one is the highest total for Samford in SoCon play this season and is the second-highest total overall, only trailing the 12 runs scored against George Washington on Feb. 16.
- The 10-0 victory is the largest margin of victory for Samford since a 13-1 win over Columbia on March 3 of last season.
- Samford would hit three home runs in game one, the most they've hit in any game so far this year.  Kayla Shaffer's third-inning blast was the first ever Samford home run at Samford Softball Field.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
Since the opening of Samford Softball Field last Tuesday, multiple Bulldogs have settled in well to the new surroundings.  Alex Adams and Rachel Bickert are both 4-10 at the new ballpark, with five of Bickert's eight RBI this season coming in those four home games.  Five of Samford's 21 hits in the park have been extra-base hits, including three home runs.  Samford is also 2-2 in stolen base attempts at the field and have held opponents to a .233 batting average over those four games.

WEEKEND WEATHER OUTLOOK
Birmingham, Ala.
Saturday, May 4
Rain, High: 58, Low: 44
Sunday, May 5
Rain, High: 61, Low: 49

UP NEXT
Postseason play begins next week in Greensboro, N.C., as UNCG will serve as the host for the 2013 Southern Conference Softball Championships.  Four days of tournament action begins on Wednesday, May 8, culminating with the championship game on Saturday, May 11.

The eighth and ninth seeds will play a single elimination play-in game on Wednesday, with the winner advancing into the resulting field of eight teams.  Those eight teams will play a double-elimination style tournament to determine a champion.