Baseball and Volleyball Pick up Wins, Softball Defeated in Extra Innings
- Chris S
- Mar 7, 2021
- 5 min read
Baseball
Samford Bounces Back in a Big Way, Win in a Laugher of Their Own to Take the Weekend Series
During today's rubber match against Toledo University, Samford's bats came back to life after a one game hiatus, with the Bulldogs tallying 16 runs on 12 hits and drawing 12 more walks. Four Bulldogs tallied multiple hits on the day with Max Pinto clearing the outfield wall for the first time this season as he led off the bottom of the 5th. Brooks Carlson got his first hit in the series during the explosive 6th inning when he hit a hard ground ball up the middle, scoring Garris and then Carlson got his 2nd RBI in the 7th when he laced a double down the left field line. Max Pinto got a head start with the hit and run on and scored without a throw. First Baseman Sonny DiChiara did the same as Carlson but in reverse order. Sonny hit a double to right field in the 5th and then in the 6th was tagged out going for 2nd as he scored Pinto and Carlson for the 1st out in what ended up being a 7 run 6th inning. Finally, Will David tallied a single to lead off the Bottom of the 6th when he beat out the throw from the Toledo Second Baseman. David then double to Centerfield later that inning, driving in his 3rd steak of the day.
On the mound, Zach Hester got the start, throwing for 3 full innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and striking out 5 of the 14 batters he saw. Hamp Skinner then got the next 8 outs, allowing 4 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits, walking and striking out 2 batters. Carson Cupo (W, 2-0) then got the next 4 outs, getting each batter he faced out on just 20 pitches and striking out 2. Carson Hobs was tasked with pitching the 8th inning, allowing 1 run (earned) on 2 hits, walking 1 and getting 1 punch out (looking to end the inning). Site editor Chase Isbell made his only appearance of the series, striking out 3, however he faced 5 batters as his second strikeout was dropped by the Freshman backup Catcher Salvo. One run scored under Isbell's watch, but it was unearned and Chase retains his 0.00 ERA on the season.
Samford will be away for the next two weekends as the team travels to Texas A&M next weekend and then opens SOCON Play in Greensboro, NC as they take on UNCG. This week's midweek games are also away, with the team traveling to Troy on Tuesday and then Alabama State on Wednesday. Then the next week the team will face Mississippi State for a single game on Wednesday. On March 23rd (3 Wednesdays from now) the team will be back in Birmingham, but will bat first as the Bulldogs face off against UAB at Regions Park in downtown Birmingham. After a long 3 weeks away from home, Samford will welcome ETSU to Samford for 3 games with 1 on Friday March 26 and then a double header on Saturday the 27th.
Volleyball
Samford Defeats ETSU 3-1 on Sunday to Stay Atop Conference Standings
Last year (2 calendar years ago) these two teams battled in the Conference Finals where Samford defeated the Buccaneers 3-2 to move on to the NCAA Tournament. Today, Samford (8-1) traveled up to Johnson City, Tennessee for day 1 of 2 against ETSU (4-5). The teams traded sets 1 and 2 before Samford won sets 3 and 4 to claim victory and push the team's win streak to 7.
Samford was led in kills by Lauren Deaton with 21. The next closest player was ETSU's Forester with 12. Lauren Deaton is 1 of 2 active players in the conference with more than 1000 kills in their career and Deaton still has one more year of eligibility. After today's result, Deaton has a total of 1032 kills. Emily Naubit led the team in both Aces ( 7) and Digs (17). Freshman Kayla Kenshock had a career day posting 33 Assists and led the team in Hitting Percentage (66.7%).
The Bulldogs will face off against these same Buccaneers tomorrow in Johnson City with the match scheduled to start at 4pm Central. Samford will return to the friendly confines of the Pete-Hanna Center next week as they host Furman (3-5) next Sunday (March 14 at 4pm) and Monday (March 15 at 6pm). Admission to both matches is free.
Softball
Softball has 2019 Football's Bad Luck in Bonus Time; Fall to NDSU 4-3 in 8 Innings to Close Ole Miss Classic
After winning going 1-3 in their first 4 games in the Ole Miss Classic, Samford had another early morning Sunday morning as they took on the Bison of North Dakota State at 9:30. Samford scored their first 2 runs in the 1st with the help of Whitney Hinton bringing in Timberlyn Shurbutt on a bunt single to 3rd and Ryan Brzozoski driving in Hinton later in the inning with an RBI single. Samford would then add their final run of the tournament in the top of the 2nd inning as Mekhi Mayfield roped a double down over the Third baseman's head to bring in Amanda Briskin. On the day, Briskin had 2 hits in 3 appearances and was 2-3 on stolen base attempts with both successes coming in the 2nd inning. Whitney Hinton led the Bulldogs with being stranded on the base paths 3 times.
Emily Barnett got the start in the circle, tossing 5 innings of 5 hit ball, only allowing 1 run to score and forcing 3 Bison to grab some pine. McKenna Gillespie entered in relief of Barnett, lasting one and two thirds innings, allowing 2 earned runs on on 3 hits and one walk. Abby Swaney (L, 3-3) pitched 1.0 on Sunday, with the game winning run being unearned. Swaney allowed just 2 Bison to reach base: 1 via a base knock and one via a base on balls.
The Bulldogs will be back in town next week as they participate in the UAB classic with UAB, Ball State, and Southern Illinois University. Samford is scheduled to play a similar schedule to what they played this weekend with 2 games on Friday (Ball State @ noon and UAB @ 5), 2 more on Saturday (Southern Illinois @ 11am and Ball State @ 1:30pm) and 1 game on Sunday against Southern Illinois @ 11am. The team will then host Mississippi State on Wednesday March 17th before their 2 game series against Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi that following Saturday The teams will then travel here to Samford where the Bulldogs will play host for one game on Sunday March 21st.
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