POSTGAME INTERVIEW
GAME 1 BOX SCORE
GAME 2 BOX SCORE
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The fourth-seeded Samford softball team earned a pair of wins in the Southern Conference Tournament Friday to advance to Saturday's championship round. The Bulldogs defeated UNCG, 3-1, and then downed Mercer, 4-3.
Samford improves to 25-35 with the wins. The Bulldogs will now take on ETSU Saturday at 12 p.m. (CT). Samford will have to win two games over ETSU to claim a second-straight SoCon Tournament title. UNCG ends its season at 29-24, while Mercer has a final record of 26-31.
"Our pitfall all year has been, if we fell behind we just didn't fight and claw our way back in it," Samford head coach Mandy Burford said. "Kudos to the girls, I'm very proud of them, one through nine, the dugout included. Grey (Adams) pitched a great game and (Abby) Sweeney caught a great game."
In the win over UNCG, Samford was led by Kelsey Royalty, going 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Whitney Hinton went 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Grey Adams (11-14) earned the win in the circle for Samford. She pitched 7.0 innings, giving up one run on two hits in picking up the victory.
For UNCG, Marisa Sholtes drove in the Spartans' lone run of the game. Alicia Bazonski (19-15) tossed 4.1 innings, giving up two runs on three hits to take the loss for the Spartans.
UNCG plated a run in the bottom of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead. Sholtes hit a sacrifice fly to right field, driving in Jasmine Palmer for the game's first run.
Samford came back with a run in the top of the third inning. Royalty hit a solo home run to right field to knot the score at 1-1.
The Bulldogs took the lead for good with two runs in the top of the fifth inning. Royalty singled up the middle to drive in Lexie Higgins for the first run of the inning. Hinton then singled to drive in Royalty for a 3-1 Samford lead.
In game two, Madison Couch went 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, driving in the game-winning run. Shelby Maze went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Maze had three hits on the day, giving her a school-record 89 hits for the season. She also stole a base in game one to give her 22 on the season, tying a school single-season record. Royalty, Abby Sweeney and Abbie Miranda had two hits each for Samford in the Mercer game.
Adams (12-14) once again earned the win in the circle for Samford. In the Mercer game, she tossed all 7.0 innings, giving up three runs on six hits to pick up her second win of the day.
For Mercer, Emma Andrew hit a two-run home run in a 1-for-3 performance. Danielle Castleberry went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Stella Preston (5-10) pitched the final inning, giving up one run on three hits to take the loss in the circle for the Bears.
Mercer jumped on top first with a run in the top of the second inning. Samford, however, took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Maze singled to drive in Miranda and Higgins for a 2-1 Samford lead.
Mercer took the lead back with two runs in the top of the third inning when Andrew hit her two-run homer for a 3-2 Bears' lead. Samford plated a run in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game at 3-3. Miranda singled to drive in Couch for Samford's third run of the game.
The Bulldogs scored the eventual game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Royalty reached on a bunt single to lead off the inning. Royalty then moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt, and third on a ground out. Couch then singled up the middle to drive in Royalty for a 4-3 Samford lead.
"Madison just rises to the occasion," Burford said. "No matter what, in each at-bat, she doesn't get down. That was a long, great at-bat when she hit a line drive to score the run in the sixth."
Adams kept Mercer scoreless in the top of the seventh inning to secure the win for Samford.
Saturday's first game is scheduled for a 12 p.m. (CT) start. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
