Spring Marches On! Volleyball, Softball, Soccer, and Baseball See Action during Holy Week
- Chris S
- Apr 2, 2021
- 5 min read
Volleyball
And then there were Two: Samford Punches Ticket to Championship Game
In a truly back and forth affair, the Bulldogs escaped a 5 set match against the fourth seeded Wofford with a 3-2 victory (25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 12-25, 16-14). With Friday's victory, Samford has earned the right to play Mercer on Saturday with the Conference Championship on the line. These two squads opened conference play all the way back in January with Samford taking the first match 3-0 and then Mercer winning match two 3-1. Both matches were played @ Mercer.
Player of the year Lauren Deaton and Freshman of the Year Kenya McQuirter led the Samford squad with 16 kills each. The two combined for 32 of the team's 44 kills on the day.
Emily Naubert led the Bulldogs with 23 digs on the day. Lauren Deaton was right on her heels, tallying 22.
Wofford pretty convincingly controlled the net, nearly doubling up the Bulldogs in the block category: 15-8. Sierra Rayzor led Samford with 3 of the team's blocks, tied with Briana Holmes.
Softball
Game 1: L, 0-8 (5 innings)
Nothing seemed to work for Emily Barnett (L, 6-5) on Friday night as she allowed 5 earned runs and 9 hits in 4 innings while striking out 2. The Catamounts exploded for 4 runs in the first inning and never looked back.
Just like the pitching, Samford couldn't buy a hit today, tallying only 1 and striking out 8 times. Timberlyn Shurbutt collected the lone base knock for the Bulldogs with a leadoff double in the Top of the 3rd.
Game 2: L, 1-4
Taylor DeCelles (L, 1-6) keeps finding herself on the wrong side of the box score and today was unfortunately no different. The Senior southpaw lasted the entire 6 innings, allowing 3 earned runs on 7 hits and 2 walks while getting one Catamount to strikeout.
Samford had more success at the plate in game 2, tallying 7 hits and seeing 5 different players collect hits. Merritt Cahoon collected both a single and a double, and Whitney Hinton collected two singles on top of a HBP. In her lone at bat of the afternoon, O'Neil Roberson gave the Bulldogs their lone run of the day with a pinch hit, lead off home run to deep center. The Bulldogs did have a chance to tie the game, but a great throw from the right fielder gave Samford just 1 out to try and manufacture 3 runs.
The Bulldogs will try to salvage the series with a single game on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for
Soccer
On Thursday, the Bulldogs made the long trek up to Lexington, Virginia as they kept pace in the race to win their 7th straight regular season championship with a 2-0 victory. In a very similar way to last Sunday's victory over The Citadel, Samford wasn't able to find the back of the net until the second half. Senior Midfielder Alyssa Frazier opened the game's scorebook in the 53rd minute when she buried a free kick in the lower left corner, her second goal on the year. Frazier then contributed on the second goal of the day as her cross from the corner found Kylie Gazza's head, scoring the goal with the ever popular "bar down" goal. The goal was Gazza's second and now gives her a goal in each of the past two games.
The defense was nearly perfect, allowing only 2 shots in the entire game, with both coming in the second half. Of the two shots, only one was on target, which Morgan McAslan kept out of the net. Samford's offense got off 9 shots in the first half and another 7 in the second, with only 3 of those shots being considered on target.
With Thursday's win and Furman tying Wofford on Friday, a Bulldog win or tie will give Samford the regular season title. If Samford loses, Furman would break the Bulldogs' streak. Samford will do battle against UNCG in North Carolina on Saturday. UNCG is currently out of the conference championship, but a victory would give them the 4th seed. Kick off is scheduled for noon Central and will be streamed via ESPN+.
Baseball
Game 1: W, 11-4
After a less than ideal start for Samuel Strickland (ND, 3-2) where he allowed 4 runs on 6 hits and one walk while striking out 2 in 4 innings of work, the bullpen shut down the Keydets over the next 6 innings. Gene Hurst (W, 2-0) lasted 2+ innings, allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out 4. Carson Cupo took innings 7 and 8, facing the minimum and striking out 1. Jacob Cravey was tasked with the 9th and he allowed only 1 hit while striking out a Keydet, bringing the game's K-Counter up to 7.
The offense got going, putting up crooked numbers in every inning that the team scored. Towns King led the way with 2 hits and 3 RBIs, with 2 of the RBIs coming off a 2 run shot to Left Field in the 7th. Max Pinto was the other Bulldog to drive in multiple runs (2). Samford collected 10 hits and showed great patience at the plate, reaching base for free 12 times.
Game 2: W, 7-6 (10 innings)
Jesse McCord (ND, 2-3) had a solid day in the night cap of the double header and got nothing to show for it. McCord went 6 full innings, allowing 6 hits and a walk while striking out 10. McCord had no earned runs on the day, but he was on the mound when 3 runs crossed the plate, one in the 4th and 2 in the 6th. Chase Isbell (W, 1-1) evened his win-loss record on Friday night after keeping the Keydets off the scoreboard in the Top of the 10th. Isbell walked one and struck out one in his single inning of work.
Taylor Garris got to play the hero when he walked it off with a single to left field, scoring Will David. However, David would not have given Garris that opportunity if David had not swiped 2nd base on a ball in the dirt. Tyler McManus was perfect at the plate, going 3-3, doubling each time up and driving in 2 RBIs on the night. Max Pinto fulfilled the social media team's promise of "More Bombs" as he hit his 3rd rocket of the season, easily clearing the wall out in Left Field. Brooks Carlson had himself a night, going 3-4 with 2 RBIs and a double. Carlson also crossed the plate later in the 8th via McManus' double, cutting the Keydets lead down to 6-5.
Samford finds themselves in the same situation as they did last week against ETSU. First pitch of Saturday's matchup is set 1pm Central and the game will be streamed via ESPN+.
Football
While this week was already scheduled to be the team's bye week, the world learned on Monday that Chattanooga was "opting out" from the rest of the season after a combination of injuries, positive tests, and personal opt outs left the team below the recommended number of players in key position groups. The matchup for April 10th has been declared a no-contest and there has yet to be an announcement of a replacement game or if the Bulldogs will just get a second bye week.
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