The Samford softball team (5-4) is set to battle two of its toughest opponents in Homewood this weekend. The second Samford Tournament of the season will begin on Friday. It will feature the Samford Bulldogs, Kentucky Wildcats (6-2), Depaul Blue Demons (4-6) and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (3-4).
The Bulldogs will be coming off of two weekday games against UAB and Georgia and a trip to Baton Rouge for the LSU Tournament last weekend.
The Bulldogs went 2-2 in Baton Rouge. Their first game was against the seventh-ranked LSU Tigers on Friday night. The Bulldogs battled the Tigers closely but ended up falling short, 4-0. LSU’s Ali Kilponen pitched the complete 7.0 innings, giving up no runs on three hits to earn the win.
The Bulldogs’ second game was against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks on Saturday morning. Freshman pitcher Abby Swaney threw a shutout, giving the Bulldogs a 3-0 victory and her second victory of the season. Then, the Bulldogs took on the UL Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns directly after their win against North Dakota. The Bulldogs were then on the other end of a shutout, falling 7-0 to the Ragin’ Cajuns.
Their final game was another contest with North Dakota on Sunday morning. The Bulldogs were able to pull out another victory in a tight 3-1 game. Junior pitcher Emily Barnett earned her first win of the season after giving up only one run to the Fighting Hawks.
The Bulldogs will certainly have their work cut out for them over the weekend when Kentucky and Georgia Tech visit Birmingham. The Kentucky Wildcats will be the third SEC opponent for the Bulldogs this season. In 2019, the Bulldogs went 0-3 against SEC teams. This will be the first meeting between the two schools in program history.
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets will be representing the ACC in next weekend’s Samford Tournament. The Bulldogs and the Yellow Jackets last played each other in 2017. Georgia Tech won both times they played that year. The Bulldogs will begin the second Samford Tournament of the season on Friday at 3 p.m. CST.
Sports Editor
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