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

There's not a better way to get SoCon play started than accomplishing a three-game sweep on the road. That's exactly what the Samford Bulldogs accomplished in sweeping the Mercer Bears.
 
Considering that Mercer had won seven games in a row coming into the series, this was Samford's best weekend of the softball season.
 
The two big reasons Samford performed so well this weekend were the timely hitting and effective pitching from Mollie Hanson and Jessica Stone. Mercer's biggest strength offensively is their speed at the top of the order. Megan Rud and Taylor Miller had one of their worst weekends of the year batting 5 for 24 (.208) from the plate with one stolen bases in three games against Samford. Hanson got all three wins against Mercer including a nine strikeout effort which catapulted her to SoCon Pitcher of the Week honors.
 
On the flip side, Samford had one of their biggest weekends from the plate with timely hits in every game. Hannah Trombley got the momentum rolling with a three-run homer in the 1^st inning of game one but it was Abbie Miranda who came up clutch against the Bears.
 
Miranda won her first SoCon Player of the Week award for the season with key hits throughout the weekend. In game one, the junior second baseman drove in a run on an RBI single in the 2^nd inning. In game two, Miranda put Samford in the lead for good with a solo home run to center field, but it was game three where she left her mark on the series. With Samford regaining the lead on a Caitlin Bice walk, Miranda sent the first pitch of her 5^th inning at-bat over the fence for a grand slam to seal the sweep.
 
The road sweep helps Samford's cause tremendously toward their goal of winning a SoCon regular season title. The Bulldogs were the only SoCon team to win all three games during the opening weekend. With Chattanooga, Furman and Western Carolina coming up over the next three weeks, the sweep at Mercer provides Samford with some room for error as we get into conference play.
 
Before Chattanooga rolls into Birmingham, Samford takes on their final SEC opponent in the Ole Miss Rebels. The Rebels won 30 games last season and are in position to blow by that mark as they are already 25-9 overall this season. Ole Miss has an RPI ranking of 32 according to this week's NCAA RPI rankings.
 
The Rebels have struggled recently losing four of their last five games including a Saturday twin bill at Oklahoma State. Offensively, Ole Miss has a similar profile to Mercer as four Rebels players have 10 or more stolen bases. Miranda Strother leads Ole Miss with 22 stolen bases.
 
From the circle, Madi Osias has had a stellar start to the year with a 13-3 record and a 2.95 ERA from the circle.
 
With fewer non-conference games remaining before post-season play, today's games marks one of the final opportunities to earn a nice non-conference win before the end of the regular season.