BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University softball team gears back up for Southern Conference action with a critical three-game home series against Mercer University. The first game is scheduled for Saturday, April 18, at 12:05 p.m. at the Samford Softball Field and will be televised by the American Sports Network which can be found on channel WABM MY68.
The Bulldogs (27-17, 8-4 SoCon) suffered a three-game setback at the hands of Western Carolina University last weekend but look to bounce back against the Bears (29-16, 5-3 SoCon).
Mercers is in the midst of its first season of Southern Conference action and were picked second behind Chattanooga and two spots ahead of Samford in the SoCon's Preseason Team Rankings to start the year.
However, the Bulldogs and the Bears are very familiar with each other as this will be the 58
th meeting between the two schools. Samford holds a slight edge in the all-time series 30-27 and split with Mercer in a pair of games just last season in Macon, Ga. SU took the first game 9-8 then fell to MU 5-1 in an opening weekend tournament hosted by the Bears.
Samford will look to kick-start its offense after struggling to plate runs in the series against the Catamounts last weekend. Junior
Megan Dowdy will lead the charge in that department as she leads the team and the SoCon with school single-season record 70 hits and a .443 average at the plate.
Dowdy will look to have help from the entire batting order especially from junior
Callie Brister and sophomore
Abby Sweeney who each have 10 home runs apiece for the Bulldogs.
On Sunday, April 19, in the final game of the series the Bulldogs will recognize seniors
Abby Adams,
Shelby Scott and
Caroline Seay for their contributions to Samford University and the softball program.
A key component to the puzzle will also be the Bulldogs pitching this weekend. Samford has had success when the pitching staff has excelled when in the circle. Redshirt junior
Mollie Hanson leads the team in wins with 15 while sophomore
Grey Adams holds the team's best ERA at 3.52. Opponents have hurt the Bulldogs the most this season when using the long ball. Samford holds a 1-9 record when the competition has hit two or more home runs in a game.
You can follow along with this weekend's action via live stats on SamfordSports.com, by following @SamfordSB on Twitter or via live video stream for games two and three courtesy of the SoCon Digital Network.
