www.samfordsports.com Samford Softball 2019 CURRENT SOCON STANDINGS TEAM SOCON OVERALL ETSU 3 - 0 16 - 12 - 2 Chattanooga 2 - 1 23 - 8 Samford 2 - 1 13 - 22 UNCG 1 - 2 17 - 12 Furman 1 - 2 9 - 20 Mercer 0 - 0 13 - 20 Western Carolina 0 - 3 12 - 17 QUICK HITTERS • Samford will play host to the Furman Paladins in a three-game series this weekend at the Samford Softball Stadium. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m., and a single game Sunday at 1 p.m. • Samford enters the weekend with a record of 13-22 overall and 2-1 in Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs won two-of-three games at UNCG last weeknd. • Furman has a record of 9-20 overall and 1-2 in league contests. The Paladins dropped two-of-three games to Chattanooga last weekend. • Entering this weekend, Samford is led at the plate by Madison Couch, batting .316 with five doubles, six home runs and 19 RBI. Whitney Hinton has eight doubles, four home runs and a team-high 20 RBI. • In the circle, Emily Barnett has an impressive 3.74 ERA and a 1-1 record. Lacey Spear and McKenna Gil- lespie share the team lead in wins with four each. • Samford and Furman have met 48 previous times, with Furman holding a 27-21 advantage in the series. Last season, the teams met four times. In the regu- lar-season series, Furman won two-of-three games in Greenville, S.C. The teams also met in an elimina- tion ganme in the SoCon Tournament with Furman earning a 1-0 win in Greensboro, N.C. 2019 Schedule/Results DATE OPPONENT TIME Feb. 7 at McNeese State# L, 0-8 (5 inn.) Feb. 8 vs. Lipscomb# L, 0-7 Feb. 8 at McNeese State# W, 4-2 Feb. 9 vs. Campbell# L, 0-5 Feb. 9 vs. # 14 Arkansas# L, 1-6 Feb. 13 North Alabama (DH) L, 1-5/L, 3-7 Feb. 15 DePaul% W, 6-0 Feb. 16 DePaul% L, 2-5 Feb. 16 Eastern Illinois% W, 7-4 Feb. 17 Georgia State% W, 5-1 Feb. 22 vs. Lipscomb^ L, 0-8 Feb. 22 vs. Elon^ W, 4-0 Feb. 23 vs. Elon^ L, 2-8 Feb. 23 at #1 Florida State^ L, 0-13 (5 inn.) Feb. 24 at #1 Florida State^ L, 1-13 (5 inn.) Feb. 27 at Jacksonville State L, 2-3 Mar. 1 Houston Baptist$ L, 2-6 Mar. 1 Jackson State$ W, 6-5 Mar. 2 Evansville$ L, 3-4 Mar. 2 Western Kentucky$ L, 1-8 Mar. 6 at Troy W, 5-3 Mar. 10 vs. Fort Wayne& W, 5-2 Mar. 10 at Murray State& L, 1-4 Mar. 11 vs. Northern Iowa& W, 6-5 (9 inn.) Mar. 11 at Murray State& L, 1-5 Mar. 13 at UAB L, 1-6 Mar. 15 at Ole Miss L, 2-15 (5 inn.) Mar. 16 vs. #18 Oklahoma State@ L, 0-8 Mar. 17 at Ole Miss L, 3-6 Mar. 19 Tennessee Tech (DH) W, 12-8/ W, 11-3 (5 inn.) Mar. 23 at UNCG (DH)* L, 0-9 (5 inn.) W, 5-2 Mar. 24 at UNCG* W, 7-4 Mar. 30 Furman (DH)* 1 p.m. Mar. 31 Furman* 1 p.m. Apr. 3 Belmont 5 p.m. Apr. 6 at Western Carolina (DH)* 12 p.m. Apr. 7 at Western Carolina* 12 p.m. Apr. 13 ETSU (DH)* 1 p.m. Apr. 14 ETSU* 1 p.m. Apr. 19 Mercer (DH)* 4 p.m. Apr. 20 Mercer* 1 p.m. Apr. 30 UAB 6 p.m. May 4 at Chattanooga (DH)* 12 p.m. May 5 at Chattanooga* 12 p.m. May 8-11 SoCon Tournament! TBD *-Southern Conference Game # - Cowgirl Classic (Lake Charles, La.) % - Samford Classic (Samford Softball Stadium) ^ - FSU Invitational (Tallahassee, Fla.) $ - Samford Invitational (Samford Softball Stadium) & - Racer Classic (Murray, Ky.) @ - Oxford, Miss. ! – SoCon Tournament (Chattanooga, Tenn.) NOTE: All times are Central and subject to change 2019 SAMFORD SOFTBALL GAMES 36-38 Samford (13-22, 2-1 SoCon) vs. Furman (9-20, 1-2 SoCon) March 30-31, 2019 Samford Softball Field | Birmingham, Ala. | 200
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QUICK HITTERS• Samford will play host to the Furman Paladins in a three-game series this weekend at the Samford Softball Stadium. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m., and a single game Sunday at 1 p.m.
• Samford enters the weekend with a record of 13-22 overall and 2-1 in Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs won two-of-three games at UNCG last weeknd.
• Furman has a record of 9-20 overall and 1-2 in league contests. The Paladins dropped two-of-three games to Chattanooga last weekend. • Entering this weekend, Samford is led at the plate by Madison Couch, batting .316 with five doubles, six home runs and 19 RBI. Whitney Hinton has eight doubles, four home runs and a team-high 20 RBI.
• In the circle, Emily Barnett has an impressive 3.74 ERA and a 1-1 record. Lacey Spear and McKenna Gil-lespie share the team lead in wins with four each.
• Samford and Furman have met 48 previous times, with Furman holding a 27-21 advantage in the series. Last season, the teams met four times. In the regu-lar-season series, Furman won two-of-three games in Greenville, S.C. The teams also met in an elimina-tion ganme in the SoCon Tournament with Furman earning a 1-0 win in Greensboro, N.C.
Samford (13-22, 2-1 SoCon) vs. Furman (9-20, 1-2 SoCon) March 30-31, 2019
Samford Softball Field | Birmingham, Ala. | 200
2019 SAMFORD SOFTBALL
Samford’s Miscellaneous RecordsDay games 11-16Night games 2-6SoCon games 2-1SoCon day games 2-1SoCon night games 0-0Non-SoCon games 11-21Non-SoCon day games 9-15Non-SoCon night games 2-6When Samford scores first 7-6When opponent scores first 6-16vs. RHP 13-21vs. LHP 0-1When Samford hits a home run 9-5When opponent hits a home run 7-19In one-run games 2-2In two-run games 2-0In extra-inning games 1-1Samford scores 0-2 runs 0-19Samford scores 3-5 runs 6-3Samford scores 6+ runs 7-0Opponent scores 5 or less runs 12-7Opponent scores 6 or more runs 1-15Samford leads after 5 innings 8-1Samford leads after 6 innings 9-0Samford trails after 5 innings 2-15Samford trails after 6 innings 0-15Samford outhits opponent 9-2Opponent outhits Samford 2-19Hits are the same 2-1Samford commits no errors 4-5Opponent commits no errors 1-10Monday games 0-0Tuesday games 2-0Wednesday games 1-4Thursday games 0-1Friday games 4-4Saturday games 3-10Sunday games 3-3February games 5-12March games 8-10April games 0-0May games 0-0
IMPROVED FIELDING Entering this weekend, Samford ranks second in the Southern Conference in fielding, with a .967 fielding percentage so far this season. The performance is a big improvement from 2018 when the team ranked sixth out of seven league teams in fielding.
COUCH LEADING THE WAY Entering this weekend, Samford senior first baseman Madison Couch leads the squad in several statistical categories. She is the team leader in bat-ting average (.316), hits (31), runs scored (18), home runs (6), walks (13), total bases (56) and slugging percentage (.571).
NEWCOMERS HAVING AN IMPACT So far this season, several newcomers have had a major impact on the Bulldogs’ squad. Transfer infielders Maddie Dorsett and Tim-berlyn Shurbutt have been steady defensively, and they rank third and fifth, respectively, on the team in hitting. Freshman Merritt Cahoon ranks fourth on the team in hitting, while freshman pitcher Lacey Spear shares the team lead in wins with four.
BURFORD-JOHNSON SETS CAREER WINS RECORD With Samford’s 7-4 win at UNCG March 24, head coach Mandy Burford-Johnson became the all-time winningest coach in program history. Burford-Johnson currently has 199 wins in her Samford carer, breaking the old record of 198, set by Beanie Ketcham from 2003 to 2010.
CONFERENCE PRESEASON PREDICTIONSIn the preseason Southern Conference poll, Samford waspicked to finish fourth by the league’s coaches. Samford also had five players named to the preseason All-SoCon teams. Madison Couch was named first team All-SoCon, while Hannah Trombley, Whitney Hinton, Kelsey Royalty and Ashlyn Barnes were named to the second team.
Preseason Player of the Year Aly Walker, Chattanooga, Jr., OF Preseason Pitcher of the YearStephanie Bryden, UNCG, Sr. Preseason First-Team All-SoConP Stephanie Bryden, UNCG, Sr.P Stella Preston, Mercer, Jr.C Megan Lane, Mercer, Sr.1B Marisa Sholtes, UNCG, R-Sr.2B Lauren Lee, ETSU, So.3B Devan Brown, Chattanooga, Sr.SS Jasmine Palmer, UNCG, Sr.OF Aly Walker, Chattanooga, Jr.OF Micayla Rood, Mercer, So.OF Jordan Gontram, UNCG, Jr.DP Taylor Wright, ETSU, Sr.UT Madison Couch, Samford, Sr. Preseason Second-Team All-SoConP Celie Hudson, Chattanooga, Jr.P Emily DeMonte, Furman, Sr.C Hannah Trombley, Samford, Sr.1B Emma Sturdivant, Chattanooga, Sr.2B Whitney Hinton, Samford, Jr.3B Nikki Grupp, ETSU, Jr.SS Casey Bigham, Furman, Jr.OF Makenna Matthijs, UNCG, So.OF Ashlyn Barnes, Samford, So.OF Kelsey Royalty, Samford, Sr.DP Marissa Guimbarda, Furman, So. UT Taylor Chadwick, Chattanooga, Jr.
2018 Quick FactsUNIVERSITY FACTSLocation: Birmingham, Ala.Founded: 1841, Howard CollegeNCAA Affiliation: Division IConference: SouthernEnrollment: 5,509Nickname: BulldogsColors: Red and BlueHome Field (Capacity): Bulldog Softball Field (200)President: Dr. Andrew Westmoreland Alma Mater: Ouachita Baptist Univ. ‘79Director of Athletics: Martin Newton Alma Mater: Samford University ‘83
Mandy Burford-Johnson enters he eighth season as the head coach of the Samford softball team. She was promoted to head coach in 2012 after serving as an assistant coach in 2011. Burford-Johnson recently became the program’s all-time winningest
coach, and now has 199 career wins, breaking the old record of 198 by Beanie Ketcham. In the 2018 season, Burford-Johnson’s team produced the Southern Conference Player of the year for the second time in the last three years, as center fielder Shelby Maze took home the award. The 2017 team produced a second-straight appearance in the Southern Conference Tournament championship game. After falling in the first round to Mercer, Samford reeled off three-straight wins over Chattanooga, UNCG and Mercer to reach the title game for the second-straight season. After the tournament, Samford’s Grey Adams, Madison Couch, Shelby Maze and Kelsey Royalty were named to the All-Tournament
team. Maze, the 2017 team’s center fielder, set a school record and led the nation with 90 hits. She also led the SoCon in batting with an impressive. 423 average. Maze was named first team All-SoCon and third team NFCA All-Region at the conclusion of the season. Maze was joined on the first team All-SoCon squad by teammates Couch and catcher Abby Sweeney. Additionally, infielder Whitney Hinton was named to the SoCon’s All-Freshman team. Burford-Johnson, 2016 SoCon Coach of the Year, took the Bulldogs to new heights in 2016 as she led the program to its first ever NCAA Championship Tournament appearance with a trip to the Tuscaloosa Regional and eventually ended the season with a school record 40 wins. Samford recieved the Southern Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament after the team had secured its first ever SoCon Tournament Championship as well as winning the SoCon regular season title with a 15-3 SoCon record. The Bulldogs also garnered their first ever SoCon Player of the Year and SoCon Pitcher of the Year awards thanks to outstanding play from outfielder Megan Dowdy and pitcher Mollie Hanson. Dowdy went on to become the first Samford softball player to earn a spot on the NFCA All-Region First Team in the South Region, which is arguably the toughest region in the country. Hanson was tabbed All-Region Third Team along with third baseman Callie Brister. Dowdy, Hanson and Brister were also named first team All-SoCon in 2016. Caitlin Bice, Abbie Miranda, Lexie Higgins and Maze were named second team All-SoCon that season. In 2015, Burford-Johnson guided the Bulldogs to a 33-22, 11-7 SoCon record and finished as SoCon runner ups in the regular season. Samford tallied seven SoCon All-Conference selections which included 2015 Freshman of the Year Shelby Maze. Burford also coached junior outfielder Megan Dowdy who recieved the Bulldogs first ever NFCA All-Region Award after making the third team. Burford guided the Samford softball program to its’ most successful season in the program’s 28 year history in 2014 when the team won the most games ever after a 38-18 season. The wins record was not the only one to be broken that season as multiple fell behind a very talented Bulldog squad. Samford also racked up numerous individual accolades by the years end. At the end of the 2013 season, Burford-Johnson guided the team to one of the most successful conference tournament runs in Samford history. The ninth-seeded Bulldogs advanced all the way to the SoCon semifinals, outscoring their first four opponents 19-3. Sophomore pitcher Shelby Scott and senior outfielder Kayla Shaffer were both named to the All-Tournament team. Samford is the only ninth-seed in SoCon history to advance to the semifinals. During the 2013 season, Samford was the only team in the conference to throw two no-hitters, as Mollie Hanson downed UNCG on March 9 before Shelby Scott did the same to Elon on April 20. Both pitchers were named SoCon Pitcher of the Week following their performances and they were the first no-hitters at Samford since 2006. The Bulldogs have earned a spot on the SoCon All-Freshman team in every season under Burford-Johnson as well, with Madison Dickey in 2012, Megan Dowdy in 2013, Grey Adams 2014, Karsin Spinks and Shelby Maze (Freshman of
MANDY BURFORD-JOHNSONHEAD COACH
THE BURFORD-JOHNSON FILECOACHING EXPERIENCE 2012–present Head Coach Samford University
#2/7 at McNeese L 0-8#2/8 vs Lipscomb L 0-7#2/8 at McNeese W 4-2#2/9 vs Campbell L 0-5#2/9 vs Arkansas L 1-62/13 NORTH ALABAMA L 1-52/13 NORTH ALABAMA L 3-7
$2/15 DEPAUL W 6-0$2/16 DEPAUL L 2-5$2/16 EASTERN ILLINOIS W 7-4$2/17 GEORGIA STATE W 5-1^2/22 vs Lipscomb L 0-8^2/22 vs Elon W 4-0^2/23 vs Elon L 2-8^2/23 at #1 Florida State L 0-13^2/24 at #1 Florida State L 1-132/27 at Jacksonville State L 2-3
&3/1 HOUSTON BAPTIST L 2-6&3/1 JACKSON STATE W 6-5&3/2 EVANSVILLE L 3-4&3/2 WESTERN KENTUCKY L 1-83/6 at Troy W 5-3
%3/10 PURDUE FORT WAYNE W 5-2%3/10 at Murray St. L 1-4%3/11 vs Northern Iowa W 6-5%3/11 at Murray St. L 1-5
3/13 at UAB L 1-63/15 at Ole Miss L 2-153/16 vs #18 Oklahoma State L 0-83/17 at Ole Miss L 3-63/19 TENNESSEE TECH W 12-83/19 TENNESSEE TECH W 11-3
*3/23 at UNCG L 0-9*3/23 at UNCG W 5-2*3/24 at UNCG W 7-4
Player avg slug ob% g ab r h 2b 3b hr rbi bb so sb cs e
Win-loss breakouts: Day 11-16; Night 2-6; vs Left 0-1; vs Right 13-21;1-run games 2-2; 2-run games 2-0; 5+run games 2-13; Extra inns 1-1; Shutouts 2-7.Current streak: Won 2; Longest winning streak: 2; Longest losing streak: 5.Attendance: Home 2223 (avg 171); Away 2339 (avg 106); Total 4562 (avg 130).