CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Samford University dropped a pair of key Southern Conference games against Western Carolina University at the Catamount Softball Complex on Saturday, April 11.
The Bulldogs (27-16, 8-3 SoCon) battled the Catamounts (18-23, 7-4 SoCon) in game one but eventually conceded a 2-1 defeat.
Senior shortstop
Abby Adams scored Samford's lone run of the day on a monster solo home run to left center field off of starting pitcher Jordan Garrett (12-10).
Third baseman
Callie Brister anchored the Samford defense with clutch play-after-clutch play from her position. The Tuscaloosa, Alabama native tallied seven assists in the first game with two solo putouts that included a diving catch on a bunt that ended in a doubling up a Catamount runner at first in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Samford tallied 12 hits over the 14 inning span with junior
Megan Dowdy leading the way with 4-for-6 effort on the day with one walk and no strikeouts. The Fairhope, Alabama native etched her name in the Samford record books for the second consecutive season as she broke her own single-season record for hits. Dowdy tallied 67 total hits during the 2014 season and now stands with 70 with 10 games left in the 2015 regular season.
SU's offense worked both Garrett and Taylor Sigmon in both games but were unable to string enough timely hits together to bust open the scoring. Samford stranded a total of 17 total runners through two games with 13 of those coming in game two alone.
The Catamounts jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in game two similar to game one with an RBI single from Courtney Price that scored Emily Helton from third after she had reached on a leadoff walk that was issued by
Grey Adams (7-4).
The Bulldogs stranded a total of eight runners in scoring position in the 6-0 shutout in game two against the Catamounts.
The final game of the series will take place on Sunday, April 12, at noon (CDT) at the Catamount Softball Complex. Fans can follow along via live stats and live audio links found on SamfordSports.com or by following @SamfordSB on Twitter.