Football Dominates, Baseball and Softball take Series, Soccer Sweeps, and Volleyball Drops Match 1
- Chris S
- Mar 29, 2021
- 5 min read
Football
Now THAT'S how you rebound from an instant classic loss from the week before.
Samford Football traveled up to Charleston, South Carolina to do battle with the Bulldogs of The Citadel. After last year's quadruple overtime game, Samford left nothing to chance as the good Bulldogs racked up 55 points in less than 20 minutes of possession time. Samford forced one fumble and fell on another 5 free balls and then, just for good measure, also decided that what they really needed was an interception.
While he didn't have the same record setting day as last week, Liam Welch still had a solid day: 19/35 for 306 yards and 3 touchdowns. Welch was also the leading rusher with 139 yards on the day and he tacked on another touchdown when he called his own number in the second quarter.
Jai'Rus Creamer was the leading receiver for Samford as Welch connected with him 3 times for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns, his first time finding pay dirt since 2018 @ Furman on October 20th. Montrell Washington had the most receptions for Samford on the day with 6, allowing Washington to ran for 94 yards.
The Bulldogs will be off for Holy Saturday before traveling to Chattanooga for an April 10th meeting with the Mocs. Samford will then close out the season against the Mercer Bears on April 17th with the team's final home game.
Baseball
After sweeping the doubleheader on Friday, Samford's bats went silent as the team lost game three 5-1 to the ETSU Buccaneers on Saturday.
Zach Hester (L, 1-2) pitched well, lasting a full 5 innings in just 68 pitches, allowing one run on one hit and two walks while striking out three. Hamp Skinner took over the 6th and was taken out of the game with one out in the 7th after giving up 2 earned runs (4 crossed the plate) on 3 hits. Carson Cupo got the final 8 outs, allowing just one walk while striking out 2.
Taylor Garris earned the only RBI on 1 out Fielder's Choice that allowed Catcher Kaden Dreier. No Bulldog collected multiple hits, with 12 of the 27 outs coming via groundouts. Before next weekend's series against VMI the Bulldogs will need to do something about strikeouts as the team combined for 8 Ks and half of those saw the Samford ballplayer have the bat on their shoulder on the consequential pitch.
The Bulldogs will dress in all grey on Tuesday as they travel to face Jacksonville State before returning home for 3 against VMI. The Bulldogs and Keydets are set to face off twice on Good Friday with just one matchup scheduled for Holy Saturday.
Softball
Emily Barnett (W, 6-4) returned to the circle for Saturday's matchup with the Mercer Lady Bears and pitched for a total of 6 innings, allowing 2 earned runs (4 crossed the plate under her watch) on 7 hits and 4 walks while punching out 3. After a rocky appearance on Friday, Taylor DeCelles did her job of giving Barnett time to rest her arm and kept the Lady Bears off the scoreboard in her single inning of work, allowing 2 hits and 1 walk.
I'm not sure who exactly to talk with, but Samford needs to invest in a portable sauna for Whitney Hinton and her bat to make sure that they stay hot. Hinton decided that 3 homers on the weekend wasn't enough, so she decided to demolish a 2nd inning pitch for an oppo-taco- grand salami. Maybe I can donate enough money in 30+ years to have the sauna named after me... goals are always important to have I guess.
Merritt Cahoon had a sneaky good weekend, adding a couple of hits on Saturday and driving home Whitney Hinton in the Bottom of the 6th, giving the Bulldogs a 2 run advantage and the eventual 6-4 victory.
The Bulldogs are off until this weekend as they travel to the Western edge of North Carolina to Cullowhee as they continue SoCon play against the Catamounts of WCU.
Soccer
After a thrilling game on Friday, the team made it easier on all of the spectators' hearts as the team dismantled The Citadel on Sunday, earning a 3-0 victory. Caroline Orman, Kylie Gazza, and Morgan Greene all scored on the day.
Samford's stifling defense was back on display, limiting the visiting Bulldogs of The Citadel as the back line for the Red and Blue allowed only 2 shots on goal, both of which Morgan McAslan saved. Samford, by contrast, had 11 of their 21 shots counted as "on target."
Samford controls its own destiny as the team goes for their 7th consecutive conference regular season title, however there is no margin for error. The Bulldogs must win both games this weekend against VMI and UNCG, both away from campus. A Samford loss in either of these games would all-but give Furman the title. IF Furman loses its one remaining game (@ Wofford), Samford needs to win just one game. IF Furman loses and Samford draws both games, the two squads would be tied in points, but I think that the tiebreaker would go in favor of the Paladins as they would have the better overall record. As long as the Bulldogs take care of business, I won't have to constantly check soconsports.com and I'll be much happier.
On a positive note, Samford just needs to match whatever Chattanooga does to ensure that they have a home game to start the Conference Tournament
Volleyball
The back and forth affair with The Citadel did not go Samford's way on Sunday evening as the team dropped a 3-2 decision (22-25, 25-19, 25-11, 17-25, 15-13).
Lauren Deaton continued her league-wide domination from the Outside Hitter position, bringing down 20 kills to lead both the Samford squad and the squad from Charleston, South Carolina. Kenya McQuirter finished with the second most on the team with 13.
The serves were, as the kids say, "on point" as Samford finished with 13 aces on the day. Emily Naubert led the team with 4, bringing her into the lead for the team in the category with 26 aces on the season. Sarah Hayes Farley closed the gap between her and Lauren Deaton (23) as SHF finished with 3 and upping her total to 19. As a team, Samford averages 8.07 aces per match.
Kayla Keshock continues to impress as she finished the match on Sunday with a team high 41 assists on the day. Emily Naubert (5) Andie Salasky (4) were the only other Bulldogs to register multiple assists.
The Bulldogs will look to close out the regular season on a high note as they finish the season at home against these same The Citadel Bulldogs at 6pm. Samford has the chance to clinch a share of the regular season title and the number one overall seed with a Monday night victory.
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