Successful Weekend for Samford Sports, Bulldogs Go 5-3 Overall
- Chris S
- Feb 28, 2021
- 4 min read
The last weekend of February was kind to the Bulldogs with Football, Softball, and Baseball in action. Football (1-1) doubled up Western Carolina (0-2) 55-27 in our home opener, Softball swept the Samford Tournament, winning all 4 games (2 against UNI and 2 against ULM), and baseball nearly pulled off the upset today before being swept by the #7 Florida Gators down in Gainesville.
Football Covers (-15.5), Hits the Over (58) in Victory Over Lowly Catamounts 55-27 in Home Opener
Samford's offense got back to where they wanted to be after last week's disappointing loss to ETSU. On Saturday, the Bulldogs were nearly perfectly balanced, picking up 311 yards in the air and another 319 on the ground. Liam Welch started under center and turned in a career day, throwing for 311 yards on 26 completions, throwing 2 touchdowns and running the ball in 3 more times. Welch was upright for almost every play as the O-Line did everything but build a physical wall around the pocket, only being sacked twice. A.J. Toney was Welch's favorite target, hauling in 9 receptions for 77 yards and finding the promised land once midway through the 3rd quarter. Jay Stanton led the Bulldog rushing attack, picking up 135 yards on the ground and crossed the goal line with just under 6 minutes left in the 1st to give Samford its first lead. Samford would never trail again for the rest of the day.
The Samford defense got burned a few times on the deep ball, but clamped down on the ground game, only allowing 143 rushing yards. The defense was led by Senior Safety Ty Herring with 9 tackles and 1 PBU. Sophomore Safety Chris Edmunds and Graduate CornerBack Coutrell Plair each brought down an interception.
The Bulldogs will be back in action next week as they travel to Greenville, SC to take on the Furman Paladins (1-1). Samford will be back home on March 13th as they play host to Wofford. Kick off for both games are currently scheduled for Noon Central with the games available on ESPN+.
Softball Sweeps Samford Tournament
Samford bounced back from a tough midweek series in a big way, taking down UNI and ULM twice each over the past 3 days. A full recap of Samford's first game can be found here, but for the sake of brevity, I will recap the tournament as a whole instead of game by game. Samford's pitching staff of Barnett (4-1), Swaney (2-1), and DeCelles (0-1) had a solid weekend, only allowing 5 runs (all earned) over 31 innings, with Barnett picking up 3 of the group's 4 wins and picked up her 1st save of the year. Abby Swaney started Games 1, 2, and 4, going 1-0 on the weekend with 2 no decisions. Swaney left Sunday's game against ULM after 1 inning after getting hit in the leg with comebacker. Swaney walked off the field under her own power, but with a heavy limp.
The Bulldogs totaled 33 hits on the weekend, with the team reaching base 10 times in their final two games of the tournament (vs UNI Saturday, vs ULM Sunday). Whitney Hinton led the Bulldogs totaling 12 total bases, including a home run during the first game on Saturday. This pushes he season total up to 3 and her career total up to 37. During today's game, Timberlyn Shurbutt saw beach balls, smashing 2 doubles.
Samford doesn't have a mid week series, but will travel to Oxford, MS as they take part in the Ole Miss Tournament. Samford will be back home on March 17th as they play host to SEC foe Mississippi State.
Walk-off Sweeps Baseball in Gainesville
Nothing went right for the Bulldogs on Saturday as they fell to the Florida Gators 18-2. Jesse McCord was tagged with the loss after giving up 4 runs (3 earned) in 5 full innings, walking 2 and striking out 4. The only bright spots for the Bulldogs on Saturday were the two solo bombs by Kaden Dreier (solo shot to left center in the 5th) and Sonny DiChiara (solo shot to left center the next inning).
On Sunday, the Bulldogs exploded for 9 runs, but a 2 out walk off single in the bottom of the 9th for the Gators was all she wrote for the weekend. Zach Hester got the start on Sunday, lasting 2 full innings, allowing 4 Gators to cross the plate (3 earned) on 4 hits. Hester gave a free pass to one Gator and threw a chair to another. Chase Isabell was tagged with the loss as he was on the mound when the unearned run crossed the plate in the bottom of the 9th. Isabell went 1.1 innings, walking 2 and punching out a pair.
Sonny DiChiara had his Wheaties Sunday morning, sending two pitches over the fence. His first came in the 1st inning, clearing the Left Field wall and driving in Taylor Garris. His second of the day came in the 9th to tie the game at 9 with Sonny displaying his power as he sent the ball a long ways away over the right field wall. Ayrton Schafer joined Sonny in circling the bases with his home run coming as the sole Samford run in the 5th.
Samford will have their next 4 games on campus as they host Jacksonville St on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 4pm. Following the single game, the Bulldogs will then welcome the Toledo Rockets to the Magic City for a 3 day series. This will be the first time Samford and Toledo will share the field. Friday's game against Toledo is scheduled to start at 4pm.
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