BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – Led by the Southern Conference Co-Freshman of the Year
Olivia Shaw and five other All-SoCon Performers, the No. 3 seeded Samford softball team opens the 2024 SoCon 2024 Softball Championship against the winner of No. 6 Furman and No. 7 Western Carolina on Wednesday night at UNCG Softball Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The first round contest between the Bulldogs and either the Paladins or the Catamounts is slated for a 6 p.m. CT first pitch and will be streamed on ESPN+. The official bracket can be
found here and Samford's game notes can be found
here.
During the regular season, Samford took a series at Furman in mid-April before dropping a series to Western Carolina at home to close out the month of April.
Furman enters the tournament with a record of 24-29 having swept ETSU to close out the regular season. Western Carolina comes to Greensboro with a record of 16-33 in tow. The Catamounts were swept by regular season champion Chattanooga to conclude the campaign.
In addition to Shaw being named Conference Freshman of the Year, Shaw was also named to second team All-SoCon and All-Freshman. Catcher
Logan Champion and outfielder McKayla Cothran earned first team honors. Pitcher McKenzie Newcomb, infielder Sarah Squillace and Shaw landed on the second team with Katie Campbell joining Shaw on the All-Freshman team.
Offensively, the Bulldogs are paced at the top of the lineup by the junior duo of Cothran and Squillace. Cothran leads Samford in batting average at .360, while Squillace is slashing .320.
The heart of the order features one of the best young hitters in the conference as Campbell leads the team with 13 home runs and a single-season program record of 49 RBIs. Champion ranks second on the squad with five homers and 27 RBIs while holding the team lead with a trio of triples.
Along with her prowess in the batter's box, Logan Champion has thrown out 13 runners attempting to steal, which ranks 23rd nationally.
On the national stage, Campbell ranks top 100 nationally in hit by pitches (9/90th), home runs (13/60th), home runs per game (0.26/80th), RBIs (49/49th) and RBIs per game (0.98/58th).
Since Samford was on the wrong end of a perfect game against Auburn on April 3, Shaw has been one of the best bats in the Bulldog lineup. The freshman has led the team by batting .412 with a pair of home runs and eight RBIs.
In the circle, Partain has been the workhorse of the Bulldog pitching staff tossing 139.1 innings and making 27 starts, which ranks 19th in all of D1. The junior has also tossed 15 complete games, which ranks 46th nationally and second in the SoCon.
Newcomb has returned to form after 27 games in the heart of the season. Newcomb enters the weekend ranked 15th nationally in Strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.64) and 18th in Walks Allowed Per Seven Innings (1.07).
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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).
