Easter Wrap-up: Birmingham is the Home of Champions
- Chris S
- Apr 7, 2021
- 5 min read
Soccer
It's hard to do it once, even harder to do it a second time. But seven times? Insane. Yet that's exactly what Coach Yelton and his squad captured with Saturday's 2-0 victory over UNCG. With the win, Samford claimed its second regular season title of the new year, and the Soccer program captured their 7th straight title, earning the right to play the entire SoCon Championship just across the street from the main campus.
Kylie Gazza scored her 3rd goal in as many games and gave the Bulldogs the lead early in the match. For her scoring outburst, the Senior Center Back (do not adjust your screen brightness, you read that correctly) was awarded Offensive Player of the Week honors. Kayla Reynolds opened her scoring account in the last possible day with a goal just before the 80 minute mark, giving the game its final score.
Samford played their normal physical game, forcing the Referee to call fouls against the Bulldogs 11 times, but getting UNCG to commit 9 fouls of their own. Each team was shown a yellow card with the Spartans seeing the first one just after the 80th minute mark and the Bulldogs seeing one for themself just 6 minutes later.
Samford will play the 4 seed, Mercer, on Friday with kickoff set for 2pm. Why the game isn't later in the day is beyond me and defiantly far above my pay grade, but one would think that a semifinal game would take place after classes on campus were finished...
Volleyball
After a nail biting battle the day before against Wofford, Samford crushed Mercer with a 3-0 sweep (25-18, 25-23, 25-21). With the victory on Saturday, the Bulldogs punched their ticket to Omaha, Nebraska where they will face off against Wright State next Wednesday, April 14.
Lauren Deaton paced the team with 15 kills with Kenya McQuirter placing 2nd on the team with 7.
With only 3 sets to play, Kayla Keshock couldn't put up insane numbers, but she still managed to assist on 31 points with Libero Emily Naubert tallying 4 assists.
Saturday's victory marks the 3rd straight SoCon Tournament Championship for the Bulldogs. In both 2018 and 19, Samford was swept in straight sets by USC and Louisville. Samford and Wright State have not played since the 1980s with Wright State taking the victory.
Baseball
VMI
A big 1st and 3rd inning propelled the Bulldogs to a win last Saturday, capturing the sweep of the visiting Keydets 7-6. Saturday's victory gave the Bulldogs 4 in a row and was the 3rd straight conference series victory.
Samford had 4 pitchers see time on the mound with Zach Hester starting (ND, 1-2). Hester lasted two and two thirds innings, allowing 4 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks, striking out 2. Hamp Skinner (W, 2-0) got the final out of the third and then pitched thru the 6th inning, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 free passes with one K. Carson Cupo only allowed one hit in his time on the mound during the 7th and 8th inning, getting 4 Keydets to get a "K" in the scorebook next to their name. Chase Isbell (S, 5) worked a perfect 9th inning, getting each batter to ground out.
Tyler McManus and Sonny DiChiara drove in every run for the Bulldogs with McManus driving in 4 and DiChiara pitching in 3. Both players drove in 3 runs on a 3 run Home Run with Sonny's coming in the 1st and Tyler's coming in the 3rd. Garrett Howe also had a solid day, picking up 2 doubles on the day and crossing the plate once.
This marks the first time in the series' history that a team has swept the other. Samford has never dropped a series against VMI.
Troy
On Tuesday night, Samford completed the season sweep of Troy with a walk off single where Garrett Howe was able to poke the 2-2 pitch into right field, allowing Will David to scamper home from 3rd.
In a game that saw 8 Bulldogs and 6 Trojans take the mound, Chase Isbell (W, 2-1) found his name on the Box Score in more than one place after pitching the 9th inning, where he allowed one run via the long ball.
Tyler McManus stayed hot as he smashed a 3 run blast, plating both Max Pinto and Sonny DiChiara. As mentioned in the opening to this game's recap, Garrett Howe played the role of the hero as he drove in Will David with a poke single with one away in the last half of the 9th.
Samford will wrap up its time at home with a weekend series against the Bulldogs from The Citadel. Due to the threat of inclement weather, there will be a doubleheader on Saturday followed by a single game on Sunday.
Softball
After a disappointing doubleheader on Good Friday, the Bulldogs could not salvage the series as the team dropped a 5-3 decision to the conference leading Catamounts from Western Carolina. Emily Barnett (L, 7-5) started the game for the Bulldogs and left with just one out in the 4th. Barnett surrendered 3 earned runs on 6 hits and 2 walks while sitting down 2 more via strikeouts. Taylor DeCelles oversaw the next 8 outs, surrendering only 2 hits and striking out 2.
Timberlyn Shurbutt led the team's offense with 2 RBIs, one coming from a first inning solo shot and her second coming via a sac fly to right, tying the game 2-2. Merritt Cahoon was the only other Bulldog to drive in a run, bringing home Whitney Hinton with a double in the 4th to tie the game at 3 a piece.
The Bulldogs host Alabama A&M for a midweek double header on Wednesday before hosting Furman for a series over the weekend. The series will be played on the same days as Baseball's series against The Citadel with 2 games on Saturday and a single game on Sunday.
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