Friday Recap: Softball, Soccer, and Baseball All in Action on Friday Night
- Chris S
- Mar 13, 2021
- 5 min read
Softball
Bulldogs Split First Two Games to Open UAB Classic
On the first full day of the UAB Classic, Samford did battle against Ball State and UAB on Friday, defeating the Cardinals in the 11am game and falling to the hosts from the other side of the mountain in the 4pm matchup.
Game One: W 1-0
Pitching
Abby Swaney (W, 4-3) gave the Bulldogs a strong performance this morning/afternoon, not allowing any Cardinals to cross the plate on 6 hits and 3 walks plus another Cardinal that was hit with a pitch. Swaney forced two Ball State players to grab some pine in the early game.
Batting
Hits were few and far between for the Bulldogs, but the team was able to string them together at just the right moment to drive in Merritt Calhoon to give the Bulldogs the lead, and eventually the win.
Only one batter reached base more than once: Home run Queen Whitney Hinton. Hinton tallied a single in the bottom of the 1st and then drew a walk in the bottom of the 6th, being stranded on the bases both times.
Mekhi Mayfield drove in her 8th run of the season on a 2-out single in the bottom of the 2nd, allowing Merritt Calhoon to score from 2nd and give the Bulldogs the run that they would need to claim victory.
Game 2: L 0-2
Pitching
SoCon Pitcher of the Month Emily Barnett (L, 4-3) allowed only 2 runs during her 6 innings of work. Barnett controlled the zone well, walking 2 and striking out another pair, bringing her season total up to 34 Ks. This ties Abby Swaney's total and the entire staff has accumulated 86 punch outs in the first 18 games of the season, meaning Samford's Pitchers average 4.78 strikeouts a game which ranks 110th in the entire nation
Batting
Samford's bats were just as quiet this game as last, but the Blazer pitchers were able to work out of jams and keep the Bulldogs off of the scoreboard. Like Game One, no Bulldog was able to accumulate more than one hit. Unlike the earlier game, no Samford player was able to draw a free pass.
Up Next
The UAB Classic will continue tomorrow with Samford facing off against unbeaten Southern Illinois at 10am and then will turn right around and face off against Ball State for the two teams' 5th ever matchup. Samford currently leads the all time series against the Cardinals 3-1. From what I can gather, tomorrow's early game between Samford and Southern Illinois will be the first matchup with the pair to play again on Sunday.
Soccer
Winless No More! Samford Picks up First Win on the Season Over Conference Foe Western Carolina
The only balls that found themselves past Net-minder Morgan McAslan came when they didn't count as the Bulldogs warmed up prior Friday's match against the Catamounts. Samford's back line has hardly needed a Goalie (no offense Morgan) allowing only 11 Shots on Goal on the season. Keep in mind that this includes the double overtime tie against UAB to start the season (4 shots on goal) and the sole loss of the season @ Ole Miss (4 shots on goal).
Samford's Alex Bice opened her account and the game's scoreboard when her shot sailed past the diving Catamount Goalie after Bice dribbled past several defenders inside the 18 yard box and was able to get enough power behind the shot as another defender tripped Bice. This goal ended a 280 minute and 5 second scoring drought.*
The score remained there for the rest of the half and the first 17 and a half minutes until Forward Taylor Yount buried a cross from Freshman Layla Brown to score Yount's second of the season.
The third and final goal of the night resembled a goal not from the fair sport of Soccer (or Football for those of y'all from across the pond), but instead, the goal resembled that of Hockey with the ball hitting off both players and the posts alike before being poked in and "lighting the lamp." Ella Simpson was in the right place at the right time and scored her first goal of her collegiate career with just under 8 minutes left to be played and slamming the door on any potential comeback by the visiting Catamounts of Western Carolina. In case my *chef kiss* exquisite description of this goal didn't paint a masterpiece in your mind, the video of the goal can be found here, starting at the 1:20 mark
* I am not a math major. This calculation is slightly better than some back of the envelope math, but I'm not sure how much better it is
What's Next
Samford moves to a perfectly balanced 1-1-1 (1-0-1 SoCon) on the season while Western Carolina falls to 2-4 (1-2 SoCon). Samford gets to sleep in their own beds for the next two nights as they turn around and host the ETSU Buccaneers on Sunday at 1pm. ETSU enters the game after a double overtime loss @ Chattanooga. That coupled with Sunday being the day that we Spring Forward could make it a tough turnaround for our guests.
Baseball
Samford Falls in Series Opener to Texas A&M 10-1
For some reason unbeknownst to me, a network bigwig decided that a 6:30pm first pitch would be a good idea. Whatever brings in the most moolah for the SEC Network I guess. The 4pm first pitch games that we have all the time here on campus is perfect: it's nice and warm for the start of the game and the fans who stick it out until the final out is made are only cold for the last 25 minutes.
Pitching
Staff ace Samuel Strickland (L, 2-2) had a solid outing against a historically good Texas A&M program, lasting 5 full innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk while striking out a season low 4 batsmen. Carson Hobbs relieved Strickland for the 6th and 7th innings, allowing 5 earned runs (6 Aggies crossed the plate) on 4 hits and a walk. Hobbs struck out a team-high 5. Alex Goff and Logan Jones combined for the final 3 outs with Goff getting the first 2 outs, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits. Jones came in and got the final out with a strike out after allowing a hit.
Batting
The Samford bats were quiet in the first game with the Bulldogs striking out a total of 15 times and tallying only 5 hits on the day. The lone Samford run came in the Top of the 9th when Pinch Hitter Joseph Salvo singled up the middle to bring home Andrew Bennett. Taylor Garris was left stranded on the base path 4 times with a total of 7 runners left on base for the entire game.
What's Next
Samford will face off against these same Aggies on Saturday as the two squads will play 2. First pitch of Game 2 is scheduled for 1pm with Game 3 set to follow hot on Game 2's heels. Jesse McCord is likely to get the nod for Game 2 and Zach Hester is projected to take the hill for Game 3.
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