Bulldogs Travel To UNCG For SoCon Series

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After stepping out of Southern Conference play in the midweek to host Alabama, the Samford Softball team returns to SoCon action as the Bulldogs head to North Carolina for a showdown with the UNCG Spartans.

The pivotal three-game weekend series gets underway on Saturday with a doubleheader slated to begin at noon CT. Sunday will feature the weekend finale also starting at noon. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+ and Samford's game notes can be found here.

Samford took two of the three games against ETSU over the holiday weekend before falling 6-2 to No. 14 Alabama in the midweek to bring a 17-23 record into the Carolinas.

UNCG has a record of 26-16 on the season and 3-2 in SoCon play. The Spartans fell in a pair of games against Furman before splitting a midweek series with Radford.

The Bulldogs and the Spartans have met 46 previous times with UNCG leading the all-time series 25-21. UNCG has won six of the last seven meetings and knocked out Samford in the 2022 SoCon Tournament.

The two squads were tabbed as favorites in the SoCon preseason poll.

Bulldog sophomore Jordyn Partain took home SoCon Pitcher of the Week honors after tossing a complete game three-hitter in Samford's 5-1 victory over ETSU. Partain only surrendered one unearned run in the start and fanned a pair of Buccaneers.

McKenzie Newcomb is once again leading the Bulldog pitching staff as the sophomore ranks seventh nationally with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 8.40. Newcomb has also accumulated 126 strikeouts which ranks 37th nationally and an ERA of 1.98, good enough for tops in the SoCon.

Newcomb leads a pitching staff that ranks 72nd in the country with 210 strikeouts on the season. The Bulldog team ERA ranks second in the SoCon at 3.10. Bulldog pitchers enter the weekend ranked 41st nationally with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.76.

On the offensive side of things, the power-hitting duo of Logan Champion and Grier Bruce pace the Bulldog offense. Champion has collected a team-best 12 doubles on the season, which ranks 21st nationally. Bruce leads the team with 10 home runs and ranks third in the SoCon and 47th nationally. The sophomore duo had a combined 38 at-bats as freshmen in 2022 and in 2023 they have a combined 49 RBIs.

Bruce's 10 home runs on the year are more than Mary Katherine Tedder and Timberlyn Shurbutt's team-leading seven home run total from last year in 17 fewer games. They are also the most by a Bulldog in a season since Whitney Hinton hit 15 in 2019.

With her three home-run performance against WCU, Bruce became the eighth Bulldog in program history with double-digit homers in a season.

Senior Merritt Cahoon homered in the series opener against ETSU for the first time since hitting a dinger against Chattanooga on April 23, 2022.

On the base paths, McKayla Cothran leads the Bulldogs with nine stolen bases and ranks fourth in the SoCon.

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Players Mentioned

#17 Merritt Cahoon: INF; 5' 7"; Junior; R/R

#8 Timberlyn Shurbutt: INF; 5' 7"; Senior; R/R

#4 Grier Bruce: INF; 5' 8"; Freshman; R/R

#25 Logan Champion: C; 5' 4"; Freshman; R/R

#33 McKayla Cothran: OF; 5' 6"; Freshman; L/R

#24 McKenzie Newcomb: P; 5' 5"; Freshman; R/R

#22 Mary Katherine Tedder: UTL; 5' 8"; Graduate Student; R/R

#99 Jordyn Partain: P; 5' 8"; Freshman; R/R

Players Mentioned

#17 Merritt Cahoon
: 5' 7"; Junior; R/R
: INF

#8 Timberlyn Shurbutt
: 5' 7"; Senior; R/R
: INF

#4 Grier Bruce
: 5' 8"; Freshman; R/R
: INF

#25 Logan Champion
: 5' 4"; Freshman; R/R
: C

#33 McKayla Cothran
: 5' 6"; Freshman; L/R
: OF

#24 McKenzie Newcomb
: 5' 5"; Freshman; R/R
: P

#22 Mary Katherine Tedder
: 5' 8"; Graduate Student; R/R
: UTL

#99 Jordyn Partain
: 5' 8"; Freshman; R/R
: P

Samford University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned