Segment of a bi-weekly blog from the voice of Samford softball play-by-play announcer James Hardy

It seems as if it was yesterday that we were gearing up for a much anticipated 2015 season. So as March has come to a close and April begining this weekend's series with ETSU will begin the final month of the regular season.
 
Samford softball closed the month of March with a bang winning their last four games including a 6-1 victory over Alabama State. It was the type of game for the Bulldogs in which the scored didn't indicate how much they controlled the game.
 
Junior Caroline Wilder launched her third round tripper of the season in the first inning. Alabama State then tied it up in the second inning with an RBI fielder's choice. After that, starting pitcher Rebecca Leonard settled down and arguably pitched her best series of innings in her collegiate career. Leonard allowed only a bunt single over her final three innings Tuesday night. In fact, Leonard, Grey Adams and Molly Hanson cruised through the final five innings as the Hornets got on base just once after the second inning.
 
It was good to see both Leonard and Adams rebound after shaky outings over the past two weeks. What's also good to see in a midweek game like Tuesday's is that the reserves got valuable playing time while also playing well en route to an easy victory.
 
The four-game winning streak puts Samford in a great position coming into the final month of the season. In the SoCon standings, the Bulldogs are just one game behind Chattanooga at 5-1 in conference play and a solid 24-13 overall record. More importantly, the current winning streak has built positive momentum with a pair of winnable series upcoming.
 
Looking at the scouting report for ETSU, the Buccaneers rejoined the SoCon after nine years in the Atlantic Sun Conference. ETSU comes into the weekend 12-19 on the season including a 1-5 SoCon record. The Buccaneers nearly swept Radford in their twin bill this week but a seven-run seventh inning salvaged a split for Radford.
 
Similar to UNCG, ETSU performs well from the plate but struggles from the circle. The Buccaneers are third in the SoCon with 34 homers as a team and is led by freshman Kelsey Smith's SoCon leading 11 homers. Smith hit two homers in the doubleheader against Radford and also drove in 4 runs in game two Wednesday.
 
From the circle, ETSU is sixth in the SoCon with a 5.25 team ERA. Samford will see seniors Whiney Leon and sophomore Taylor Carter in the circle. Carter has a 6-7 record with a 3.76 ERA while Leon has a 4-7 mark with a 5.07 ERA. Opponents have hit 29 homers off the combination of Carter and Leon.
 
We've mentioned before, this weekend's series looks winnable if not a series Samford can sweep, but the game isn't played on paper. With just 18 games left in SoCon play, every game becomes important.
 
I'll have the call this weekend with a 3 p.m. first pitch for the twin bill Friday and at 1 p.m.  with a single game Saturday on the SoCon Digital Network. With a sunny forecast for Saturday, be sure to bring the kids and the Easter basket because we'll have a special Easter egg hunt after the game on the field Saturday.
 
#RuffEm
 
James Hardy