BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University softball team embarks on a five-game road trip as the team takes part in the Wilson/DeMarini Classic hosted by Auburn University on Feb. 27, through March 1, at Jane B. Moore Field.

The Bulldogs (12-2) are off to the program's best start for the second consecutive season thanks to a record setting 8-0 performance over the last two weeks at home.

Samford will have the challenge of taking on five very talented teams who are also off to great starts to the 2015 season. The Bulldogs will first face Texas State University (9-7) on Friday, Feb. 27, at 7:15 p.m. The Bobcats have wins over Northern Illinois, Texas Tech, Florida International and nearby UAB on the season.

Texas State is led by junior Kendall Wiley who leads the team with 21 hits, 17 RBIs and seven homeruns at the plate. Freshman Randi Rupp is a young talented pitcher for the Bobcats as she has amassed 88 strikeouts to only 18 walks with a 2.66 era and a 6-4 record.

The Bulldogs will take on SIU-Edwardsville (7-2) the following day at 2:30 p.m. then Ohio State (9-3) later that afternoon at 7:15 p.m.

The Cougars have captured a pair of wins over in-state Troy University earlier in the season to go along with wins over Abilene Christian, Louisiana Tech and former SoCon member Elon. There's not any one dominant player or pitcher on the roster but the Cougars hit extremely well as a team and have outscored their opposition 49-23 over the nine-game stretch.

UCONN (3-2) is kind of the unknown team out of the group of participants in this season's classic. The Huskies have only played five games to-date with wins over Kennesaw State, Evansville and Northern Illinois but have a pair of road loses to Troy.

The final game of the classic will certainly be the toughest for the Bulldogs as they close out the event with a game against No.16 Auburn (17-1). The Tigers, much like the Bulldogs, are off to its best start in program history but have been an offensive juggernaut in the process.

Auburn has scored an astounding 176 runs and accumulated 162 RBIs to go along with 36 home runs while they have limited their opponents to just 39 runs and 82 hits.

The Tigers pitching rotation is one of the more solid ones the Bulldogs will have seen this season with Rachael Walters (5-0) and Lexi Davis (8-0).

What we know about Samford so far this season is that this team will not back down and never give up regardless of the opponent. The Bulldogs have six last at-bat wins which include four wins via walk-off on the season.

This can be accredited to clutch hitting and pitching by an experienced Samford team. Junior Megan Dowdy will look to continue her hot hitting this weekend. The Fairhope, Ala. native has tallied 26 hits (.491) with 11 runs scored and 11 RBIs.

She is accompanied by three other Bulldogs who are hitting over the .400 mark this season: Shelby Maze, Abby Sweeney and Caitlin Bice.

The most critical component to the weekend will be the pitching rotation for the Bulldogs and how they handle the other powerful offenses at the Wilson/DeMarini Classic.

Redshirt junior Mollie Hanson (6-1) and sophomore Grey Adams (4-0) will certainly be up to the task as they have stood out as two of the most productive pitchers so far this season for Samford.

The Bulldogs and the Tigers will square off on Sunday, March 1, at 1:30 p.m. to wrap up the classic.