April 26, 2003

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Samford wraps up its Atlantic Sun schedule on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET as the Bulldogs face Mercer in an important double header for the Bulldogs. Samford is currently tied for seventh place in the A-Sun standings just one game behind sixth place Jacksonville State.

The Bulldogs (25-16, 11-9 A-Sun) have split their last five conference series after splitting a pair of two-run games with Georgia State on Tuesday. Only the top six schools qualify for the tournament so Samford finds itself needing at least a split and more probably a sweep on Sunday to qualify for the conference tournament.

Erin Landsburg tossed her fifth shutout of the season on Tuesday. The Bulldog staff now has a school record nine shutouts this season. Sophomore Kelly Smith is now second on the single-season doubles list as she has pounded out 17 doubles this season. Michelle Wright had 18 doubles in the 2001 season. Smith leads the A-Sun and is second in the nation in doubles per game at 0.44. Courtney Mitchell of MTSU leads the nation with 22 doubles. Deanna Resmondo is batting .379 (22-58) against Atlantic Sun pitching. She and Smith (.365) are the only two Bulldogs hitting over .300 against the league. As a team, Samford is hitting .274 in A-Sun games. Resmondo and Smith have combined for 17 doubles, four home runs, and 20 RBI over the last 20 games.

Mercer (29-19, 10-6 A-Sun) is being forced to play on back-to-back days. The Bears doubleheader against Jacksonville State on Friday was postponed to Saturday. The Bears have the luxury of finishing it's a-Sun Schedule on Tuesday against last-place Gardner-Webb.

The Lady Bears are enjoying their best softball season ever. Nikki Bowey leads the team in hitting with a .403 average. Five Bears are batting over .300 as Mercer leads the A-Sun in team batting average. Stacy Nagel and Meghan Clark each have 10 home runs and 48 and 44 RBI respectively. The Bears have 150 walks this season. In the circle, Kristi Montgomery is 6-5 with a 1.60 ERA. She has 55 strikeouts in 74.1 innings. Stephanee Finger is 6-3 with a 1.84 ERA. Katie Rosentreter is 8-4 with a 2.40 ERA and Amy Stauffer is 6-6 with a 3.42 ERA. All four pitchers have thrown more than 46 innings this season.

Samford will return home to celebrate Senior Day on Tuesday, April 29, as it host cross-town rival UAB. The Bulldogs will honor Resmondo, Wright, and Amber Fuller, before the single-game at 6 p.m. at Bulldog Field.