An ongoing series of a bi-weekly blog from the voice of Samford softball play-by-play announcer James Hardy.

Samford softball came close to a spectacular weekend but couldn't cross the finish line in a 1-3 weekend at the Maverick Classic at UT Arlington.
 
Considering the competition over the weekend, the Bulldogs had a solid weekend with competitive contests against No.25 Texas and No.18 Arizona along with a split against the host team UT Arlington, who was receiving votes both of last week's national polls.
 
Just before the start of the season, we touched on the importance of taking a week-by-week approach to the schedule and this weekend proves why we should take that approach.
 
A 1-3 record doesn't blow anyone's socks off over the course of a typical weekend, but you have to take into account the teams Samford faced in Arlington. Arizona has been a steady Top 20 team for the entire season, Texas has hovered around the Top 25 the entire season and UT Arlington roared out to a 19-0 start coming into the weekend.
 
While Samford couldn't pull off a win over No.18 Arizona or No.25 Texas, they played one of their best all-around games of the season Sunday in an 8-0 win in five innings against UT Arlington. Junior Jessica Stone held the Mavericks to just two hits in her complete game shutout outing. Also, Samford scored their 8 runs against UT Arlington's ace pitcher in Samantha Clakley who was 9-0 coming into the game.
 
Another factor to take into account is that Samford played every game last week without the services of senior Caroline Wilder. Wilder has been a versatile, steady player both defensively in right field and in the lineup over her Samford career. To fill the void true freshman Kelsey Royalty has started in both left field and right field while a variety of players are getting opportunities to increase their production from the plate.
 
One of those players that came up big over the weekend in Wilder's absence was Abby Miranda. Miranda has struggled offensively through most of the season but against No.25 Texas had one of her best at-bats of the season with a two-run single with two outs to put Samford ahead early in the game. In the Maverick Classic finale against UT Arlington, the junior second baseman delivered a two-run single that helped put the game away for the Bulldogs.
 
For Samford, this weekend's Maverick Classic field is similar to a field that a SoCon Tournament championship team would face in an NCAA regional. Texas and Arizona have a good chance of making an NCAA regional while UTA has the capability of making a run in Sun Belt Conference play and in the conference tournament.
 
With a challenging weekend in the books, Samford returns to campus to face yet another highly ranked SEC team in 3^rd-ranked Auburn on Wednesday. Last season, the Tigers blistered the Bulldogs 13-0 in five innings as part of the Wilson/ DeMarini Classic while the return trip to Birmingham was rained out last April.
 
Auburn comes off an historic 2015 campaign that saw the Tigers win 56 games and make a deep run in the Women's College World Series. Head Coach Clint Myers has assembled yet another powerful lineup for 2016. Six players have at least 20 RBIs while senior Tiffany Howard and junior Kasey Cooper are batting at or over .500 this season.
 
The forecast appears to be favorable as far as the weather and also the possibility of one of the biggest crowds for the season. First pitch is at 5 p.m. as I'll have the call on the SoCon Digital Network with air time at 4:55 p.m..