BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – To close out the 2024 regular season, the Samford softball team heads east for a weekend showdown with the Macon Bears at Sikes Field starting on Saturday. 
 
Due to forecasted rain, the three-game weekend series will get underway at 10 a.m. CT on Saturday with a doubleheader. Sunday's regular-season finale is slated for noon CT first pitch. With Mercer hosting the Big South Conference Lacrosse Tournament, only Saturday's doubleheader will be streamed on ESPN+. Samford's game notes can be found here. 
 
The Bulldogs of Samford enter the final weekend of the regular season with an overall record of 19-29 and a mark of 10-8 in Southern Conference play. Samford is coming off a thrilling 2-1 victory over Jacksonville State in the squad's final midweek of the year. 
 
Mercer brings a 21-26 record into the weekend with a 10-8 tally in the conference. The Bears were swept by the UNCG Spartans in a three-game series last time out. 
 
Samford and Mercer have met 80 previous times with the Bulldogs from Birmingham leading the all-time series 49-31. Dating back to 2019, The Bulldogs have bested the Bears in 11 of the 12 games including the last nine straight.
 
Offensively, the Bulldogs are paced at the top of the lineup by the junior duo of McKayla Cothran and Sarah Squillace. Cothran leads Samford in batting average at .360, while Squillace is slashing .308. 
 
The heart of the order features one of the best young hitters in the conference as Katie Campbell leads the team with 12 home runs and 44 RBIs. Logan Champion ranks second on the squad with five homers and 25 RBIs while holding the team lead with a trio of triples.
 
Along with her prowess in the batter's box, Champion has thrown out 13 runners attempting to steal, which ranks 17th nationally. 
 
On the national stage, Campbell ranks top 100 nationally in hit by-pitches (9/80th), home runs (12/79th), home runs per game (0.26/88th), RBIs (44/74th) and RBIs per game (0.96/69th).
 
During the series win over WCU, Katie Campbell became the second Bulldog in program history to record 44 RBIs in a season. The single-season record is 45 by Whitney Hinton in 2019.
 
Since Samford was on the wrong end of a perfect game against Auburn on April 3, Olivia Shaw has been one of the best bats in the Bulldog lineup. The freshman has led the team by batting .425 with a pair of home runs and eight RBIs. 
 
In the circle, Jordyn Partain has been the workhorse of the Bulldog pitching staff tossing 133.1 innings and making 26 starts, which ranks 14th in all of D1. The junior has also tossed 14 complete games, which ranks 54th nationally and second in the SoCon.
 
McKenzie Newcomb has returned to form after 27 games in the heart of the season. Newcomb enters the weekend ranked 22nd nationally in Strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.11) and 24th in Walks Allowed Per Seven Innings (1.25). 
 
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