FLORENCE, Ala. – To tie a ribbon on the North Alabama-hosted UNA Tournament, the Samford Softball team outlasted the Southern Miss Golden Eagles 8-6 in game one before walloping the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks 15-1 in the nightcap on Saturday.
Saturday's doubleheader sweep pushes the Bulldogs to 6-18 on the season with a pair of games remaining before Southern Conference play begins on March 23. Southern Miss sits at 9-12 after splitting the season series with Samford. UMES drops to 5-9 after Saturday's action.
In game one,
Jordyn Partain picked up her third win of the season after allowing six runs, walking six and striking out six Golden Eagles. Two of Partain's three wins this season have come against Southern Miss.
Samford's infield power duo of
Katie Campbell and
Grier Bruce were responsible for six of the eight Bulldog runs in Saturday's opener. The duo each collected a home run, three RBIs and scored once against Southern Miss.
Olivia Shaw and
Logan Champion got in on the offensive action by scoring at least once and driving in one themselves.
The Bulldogs opened the scoring when
McKayla Cothran scampered home a Campbell sacrifice fly to make it 1-0. One batter later, Bruce crushed a three-run dinger to left-center field that put Samford up by four before Southern Miss had a chance to bat.
In the bottom of the first, Southern Miss took a size bite into the Samford lead by scoring three to make it a one-run game heading to the second.
After a relatively calm second, Campbell struck again with her team-leading seventh homer of the season. This one to dead-center scored Champion and pushed the Bulldog advantage to 6-3.
Southern Miss got back to within one after scoring a pair in the bottom of the fifth before back-to-back RBI singles by Shaw and Champion added some insurance to an 8-5 contest.
The Golden Eagles could only muster one more run against Partain before the junior slam the door on the victory and to polish off her seventh complete game of the season.
In the nightcap against UMES,
Sara Bond had a perfect game heading into the fifth inning where she allowed her lone run and a trio of hits. Despite losing the perfect game bid, Bond picked up her third complete game of the season and her first win in 2024.
Campbell continued her hot streak as the freshman batted in three more runs on a trio of hits while scoring twice. Senior
Ansley Yantis had a career-game with five runs batted in and score once with a pair of hits.
Bruce backed up her play in the first game with two more RBIs and two runs scored in the nightcap.
Linsey Hargis added two more RBIs of her own.
Samford set the tone early by scoring four in the first before adding one in the third and two in the fourth before a whomping eight-run inning to polish off the 15-1 victory and secure the Saturday sweep to conclude the weekend.
UP NEXT:
The Bulldogs return home on Wednesday to play host to the Jacksonville Gamecocks at Samford Softball Stadium. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m. and will be steamed on ESPN+.
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS:
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).
