Softball 4.21.23

Bulldogs Welcome Furman For Senior Weekend

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – For the home weekend of the 2023 season, the Samford softball team is set to host the Furman Paladins for a pivotal weekend series in the Southern Conference.

The three-game weekend set will get underway with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. CT. Sunday's series finale is also slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+ and Samford's game notes can be found here.

Saturday will double as Senior Day for the Bulldogs as Samford will celebrate all things Merritt Cahoon. The senior day celebration will include fun facts about Cahoon in between innings.

Sunday will be a Study Break as Samford students are encouraged to come out to the ballpark and grab a Sandlot shirt during the series finale.

Samford enters the penultimate weekend of SoCon play with an 18-26 overall record and a 7-5 mark in league play.

The Paladins of Furman will bring a 19-24 overall record to Birmingham along with being 7-4 in the SoCon.

Samford and Furman have met 59 previous times with the Paladins leading the all-time series by the slimmest of margins at 30-29. The Bulldogs have won eight of the last 11 meetings dating back to 2019. Samford eliminated Furman from the 2022 SoCon Softball Championship by a score of 6-1.

McKenzie Newcomb is once again leading the Bulldog pitching staff as the sophomore ranks 14th nationally with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 7.44. Newcomb has also accumulated 134 strikeouts which ranks 42nd nationally and an ERA of 2.03, good enough for tops in the SoCon.

Newcomb leads a pitching staff that ranks 75th in the country with 225 strikeouts on the season. The Bulldog team ERA ranks tops in the SoCon at 3.03. Bulldog pitchers enter the weekend ranked 56th nationally with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.56.

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 22nd nationally. Bruce leads the team with 10 home runs and ranks third in the SoCon and 70th nationally. The sophomore duo had a combined 38 at-bats as freshmen in 2022 and in 2023 they have a combined 51 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 seventh in the SoCon with nine stolen bases.

Cahoon has proven to be one of the hardest people to strike out once every 18.1 at bats, which ranks second in the SoCon and 67th nationally.

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For the latest news and information on Samford softball, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordSports (Facebook), @SamfordSB (Twitter), and @SamfordSB (Instagram).

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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