Samford Drops Wild Series Finale To Furman

Sunday, April 14

Greenville, S.C.

12 PM

Samford University

14-26, 7-5

Furman

19-23, 4-8

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Samford	0	0	0	1	0	4	1	6	10	2
Furman	4	0	0	0	1	2	X	7	9	1

4.14.24 | Softball

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. – After taking the first two games of the weekend series, the Samford softball team fell on Sunday afternoon to the Furman Paladins by a score of 7-6 to close out the weekend.

The loss drops the Bulldogs to 14-26 on the year and 7-5 in league play with three Southern Conference weekends remaining. Furman improves to 19-23 and 4-8 with the victory.

Sara Bond got the starting nod in the circle for the Bulldogs on Sunday and tossed five innings, allowing five total runs with four of them being unearned. The sophomore surrendered seven hits en route to her no-decision.

In relief, McKenzie Newcomb was tagged with the loss after two of the three Paladins batters she faced reached base and later scored. Jordyn Partain got the final two outs for Samford in the circle after Newcomb left the game due to injury.

Following a monster performance in Saturday's doubleheader, Logan Champion backed it with a 3-for-4 day on Sunday that included a two-run home run in the sixth. McKayla Cothran joined Champion as the only two Bulldogs with multiple base hits on Sunday as the junior had a pair of base knocks.

Furman sprinted out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning on Sunday thanks in large part to a pair of Samford fielding errors in the opening frame. All four of the Paladins' runs in the inning were unearned due to the errors.

After quiet second and third innings, Samford got on the board in the fourth when Cothran scampered home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Katie Campbell to make it a 4-1 game. The RBI was Campbell's 40th on the year making her ninth Bulldog in program history to have at least 40 RBIs in a season.

In the fifth inning, Furman answered with a two-out RBI double that pushed the Paladin lead back to four runs at 5-1. The run in the fifth was the first earned run that the Samford pitching staff had allowed in 23 innings dating back to the fourth inning of the UNCG weekend finale.

Samford's bats came alive in the sixth inning to attempt a comeback. The rally started when Grier Bruce single to left field to open the frame. Five pitches later, Champion clobbered her second two-run homer in as many days to make it a 5-3 game. The dinger was Champion's fifth of her junior campaign.

Two batters after the Champion blast, Linsey Hargis tied the game at 5-5 with a two-run home run of her own that scored Olivia Shaw. The game-tying moonshot was Hargis' fourth of the season.

In the home half of the sixth, a two-out wild pitch and RBI double down the line in left put Furman back out front for good at 7-5 heading to the final inning of play.

Samford's final run of the weekend came on a wild play in the seven that started with a Champion single to right field that advanced Cothran to third. The Bulldog catcher was called out at second, but thanks to heads-up baserunning, Cothran came home to score on the 9-5-6 putout to make it a 7-6 final.

UP NEXT
With Samford's midweek game at Mississippi Valley State already canceled before the weekend began, the Bulldogs will have the midweek off before heading north to take on the East Tennessee State Buccaneers on April 20.

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