Spring has Sprung! Football, Softball, Baseball, and Women's Basketball See Action on Saturday
- Chris S
- Mar 20, 2021
- 6 min read
Football
Record-Breaking Day not enough to Power Samford Past VMI in OT Thriller
Liam Welch threw the ball half way around the world this afternoon in Seibert Stadium as the Bulldogs fell to #19 VMI 38-37 after the Keydets converted the 2-point conversion on their drive in Overtime.
Liam Welch ran away with the game's MVP award after racking up a school-record 570 yards in the air to pair with 4 passing touchdowns. Welch also had 2 interceptions with the second setting up the game tying score.
Ty King led the Wide Receiving corps with 135 yards on just 3 catches, turning in his sole touchdown in the first quarter, taking a slant route 96 yards to the house after King stepped out of bounds on VMI's kickoff after the Keydets kicked a field goal on their opening possession. Montrell Washington had a breakout game today, totaling 108 yards but also coming away with 3 touchdowns, including a highlight-reel 8 yard reception where Washington climbed the ladder to put the Bulldogs up 17-10.
Samford moved the ball pretty well, but often found itself behind the chains and behind schedule as the Bulldogs tallying 7 penalties for 63 yards. However, 15 yards from that total shouldn't be counted as the Field Judge threw his yellow cloth after a phantom pass interference call, allowing the Keydets to get out of a 3rd-8 on their own side of the field and give VMI a fresh set of downs. Samford's offense found itself in familiar territory today as they could not finish drives, having to settle for field goals and allowing VMI to hang around instead of putting the game away.
The Bulldogs will travel to South Carolina for the 2nd time this season, this time to the Eastern Seaboard where Samford will take on the Bulldogs of The Citadel. Kickoff is scheduled for 12pm Central. Samford will then take their bye week for Easter Weekend and then travel up to Chattanooga for an April 10th matchup with the Mocs. Samford will host their final game of the season on April 17th against the Mercer Bears.
Softball
Southern Miss Sweeps Samford in Saturday Double Header
Game 1: L 0-4
Emily Barnett (L, 4-4) lasted the entire game, tossing 6 full innings while allowing 3 earned runs on 8 hits and 1 walk, striking out 6 Golden Eagles. This is the second time this season Barnett has struck out 6 in a game, the only other time being against UNI on February 27th. Barnett leads the team in the punch out category with 45.
Whitney Hinton led the Bulldogs at the plate in game 1 as she was the only Samford player to register multiple hits in the shutout, also registering the sole extra base hit when she doubled down the left field line to lead off the Top of the 4th.
Samford committed a whopping 4 errors on the day, directly leading to USM's 4th and final run to cross the plate.
Game 2: L 2-6
Taylor DeCelles (L, 1-4) followed Emily's example and finished what she started. DeCelles went all 6 innings, allowing 6 runs on 9 hits and one walk. Taylor tied her season high strikeout mark of 4 and today marked the second straight appearance with 4 Ks.
The bats woke up for game 2 as the Bulldogs broke a 2 game skid without a run scored. Outfielders Amanda Briskin and Abigail Dorsett were the only Bulldogs to cross the plate with Dorsett scampering home after a Whitney Hinton Sacrifice Fly and Briskin scoring from 3rd on a Ryan Brzozoski 2-Out single to Center Field. The rally couldn't carry over to the Top of the 7th as the Bulldogs went down in order.
Both teams will wrap up the series here at Samford on Sunday as the Bulldogs try to avoid the sweep. First pitch is scheduled for 1pm. Samford will stay in town for the next 7 days as the Bulldogs host Alabama State for a midweek double header and then open SoCon play with a full 3 game series against Mercer on Saturday and Sunday.
Baseball
Making up for Lost Time: Offense Shows up for Samford in Double Header Sweep at UNCG
Game 1: W 6-1
For the first time since maybe the 2019 SoCon Tournament, Samuel Strickland (W, 3-2) took care of business in the first game of the series. Strickland lasted six and two thirds innings, allowing only one run on 10 hits and striking out four Spartans. Carson Cupo came in for 4 outs, allowing only 1 hit and hitting one batter. Chase Isbell slammed the door on the Spartans in the 9th inning, getting all three outs via the ground ball.
Catcher Kaden Dreier led the way for the Bulldogs, singling 3 out of 4 times at the dish and driving in a game-leading 2. Max Pinto, Garrett Howe, Sonny DiChiara, and Towns King joined KD in the multi-hit club with Max Pinto also joining KD in the extra base hit club with the pair each hitting a double.
Game 2: W 12-5
Jesse McCord (W, 1-3) picked up his first win of the season after starting the game and lasting five full innings, allowing 2 earned runs (3 crossed the plate) on 5 hits and 4 walks while striking out 6. Blake Bortak was given innings 6, 7, and 8 and gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks and striking out an additional 4 Spartans. Jacob Cravey was tasked with getting the final 3 outs and Cravey wasted no time getting the first batter he faced to ground out to short and then freezing the next two batters and securing the series victory.
Apparently a hit parade was held in Greensboro at 4:45 as the Bulldogs tallied 15 base knocks with 6 Samford players collecting multiple hits. Will David led the way for this group of 6 as he tallied 4 singles and reached base every time he stepped up to the plate after reaching via Fielder's Choice in the Top of the 6th. Ryan Crockett led the team with 3 RBIs after a game tying double that brought in Kaden Dreier, Towns King, and Sonny DiChiara.
Samford (9-10, 2-0 SoCon) and UNCG (11-7, 0-2 SoCon) will play one more on Sunday as the Bulldogs look to move t0 3-0 in conference play and have a full game lead over VMI. Samford will return to Birmingham for a midweek game against UAB with the Blazers hosting Samford at Regions Field. Samford will finally return home next weekend for a three game series against the ETSU Buccaneers with one game on Friday and a double header on Saturday.
Women's Basketball
This one just wasn't meant to be: Samford's Season Ends in Loss to Illinois State 62-68
Samford played well in what ended up being the team's final game of the season. After going back to the locker room during halftime down 9, Samford battled back in the second half and gave themselves a chance to move on to a Monday night rematch with UT Martin.
In an almost perfect reversal from Friday night's performance, Samford was able to see shots fall early and often. Despite losing, Samford severely outshot the Redbirds 64 to 49 and out rebounded Illinois State 39-33. Samford also got to the free throw line and allowed their outstanding free throw shooting (113th in the entire nation ) to convert.
With Saturday's loss, Samford's season comes to a close. The Bulldogs posted a 14-8 record in the regular season and the team captured its first ever outright regular season title. While one more win would have been nice, this team reached new heights under the direction of 2nd year coach Carley Kuhns in a season filled with uncertainty due to the COVID-19 disease. This is the type of season that successful programs are built on and I believe that Samford University could become a premiere Mid-Major school for Women's Basketball.
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