Softball 4.18.23

Samford Set To Host UAB For Title IX Celebration

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – To open the final and longest open homestand of the season, the Samford softball team will welcome UAB to Samford Softball Stadium for the program's Title IX celebration.

The crosstown showdown is slated for a 5 p.m. CT first pitch with the game being streamed on ESPN+. The first 50 fans will get a free Samford Title IX shirt. Samford's game notes can be found here.

Samford returns home after a weekend series at UNCG, where the Bulldogs dropped a pair of one-run extra inning games before prevailing in the series finale to push the overall record to 18-25 on the year.

UAB will cross Red Mountain with a 21-21 mark for the year after being swept on the weekend at No. 11 Arkansas.

Samford and UAB have met on the softball diamond 38 times with the Blazers leading the all-time series 32-6. The Blazers have topped the Bulldogs in seven straight contests and 16 of the last 17 meetings including a game on Feb. 19, where the Blazers walked off the Bulldogs 3-2 at home.

Samford has not downed UAB since a 6-1 victory over the Blazers in 2016. The Bulldogs enter the midweek contest with a record of 2-6 against in-state foes this season.

McKenzie Newcomb is once again leading the Bulldog pitching staff as the sophomore ranks 12th nationally with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 7.44. Newcomb has also accumulated 134 strikeouts which ranks 39th nationally and an ERA of 2.03, good enough for tops in the SoCon.

Newcomb leads a pitching staff that ranks 76th in the country with 221 strikeouts on the season. The Bulldog team ERA ranks second in the SoCon at 3.13. Bulldog pitchers enter the midweek ranked 56th nationally with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.51.

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 13 doubles on the season, which ranks 19th nationally. Bruce leads the team with 10 home runs and ranks third in the SoCon and 65th nationally. The sophomore duo had a combined 38 at-bats as freshmen in 2022 and in 2023 they have a combined 50 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 and the first since 2018 to homer three times in a game.

Heading into the weekend, McKayla Cothran is tied for fifth in the SoCon with nine stolen bases.

Bulldog senior Merritt Cahoon has proven to be one of the toughest players to strike out in the country. Cahoon Is averaging 17.6 at-bats in between strikeouts the season, which ranks second in the SoCon and 76th nationally.

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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

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

Samford University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned