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

Similar to a few games early in the season, Samford looked to have a victory in hand against Kennesaw State but saw it slip away late in the game.
 
The Bulldogs had a 4-1 lead half way through the game and were two outs away from victory in the 7^th inning when Kennesaw State got three straight hits including a go-ahead home run off junior pitcher Jessica Stone to steal a win on the road.
 
Tuesday's loss reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend of mine that is a student at Alabama and does some camera work for some SEC Network games at Alabama earlier this week. He mentioned to me that one of the most underappreciated statistics in baseball or softball is runners left on base.
 
While not playing their "A-game", Samford did enough to put themselves in position to win, the inability to cash in with runners on base cost the team dearly Tuesday night. The Bulldogs left 10 runners on base including eight in scoring position.
 
With SoCon play ready to begin, tight contests will be the norm through the rest of the season. If you want to compete for a conference title, cashing in with runners on base consistently is a must.
 
After playing all but nine games away from home in the first six weeks of the season, Samford begins their first SoCon series on the road at Mercer University.
 
In a near championship run last season, Mercer provided the biggest matchup issues thanks to the pitching of Kirsten Stevens. Stevens won two of Mercer's three games against Samford and did so without allowing a run in either start.
 
Thankfully for Samford and the rest of the Southern Conference, the 2015 SoCon Pitcher of the Year transferred to Wisconsin. Stevens' transfer hurt Mercer because they heavily relied on her arm to win games over the past two seasons. Stevens won 26 of Mercer's 37 games, pitched in 233 of the team's 387.2 innings pitched and recorded 221 of Mercer's 319 strikeouts last season.
 
The Bears have taken a roller coaster ride this season. Mercer won their first two games of the season then lost 13 of their next 15 games. Since then, they have won 12 of their las 14 games including a current 7-game winning streak.
 
Similar to last season's offense, Mercer relies on their speed to generate offense. Taylor Miller and Meghan Rud provide the Bears a solid one-two punch at the top of the order. Rud has 16 stolen bases from the top of the order while Miller leads Mercer with a .410 batting average along with 17 stolen bases. Miller also is the reigning SoCon Player of the Week after going 7-11 with 4 RBIs and 3 steals in four games against Oakland and Seton Hall.
 
A hallmark of championship teams is winning on the road. If Samford wants to win a Southern Conference championship, a series win this weekend is critical towards that goal.