Brzozoski delivers walk-off hit for Samford, Luna homers for JSU
– Samford freshman and former Calhoun High standout Ryan Brzozoski singled up the middle to drive in two runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the Bulldog softball team to an 11-10 walkoff victory over in-state rival Jacksonville State Tuesday evening at the Samford Softball Field.
Jacksonville State led, 10-9, entering the bottom of the seventh inning. Madison Couch walked to lead off the inning, and then moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Shelby Maze walked. Maze then moved to second base and Couch moved to third on a wild pitch. Brzozoski then singled up the middle, driving in Maze and Couch for the 11-10 win.
“I was really proud of all of them,” Burford said of her lineup. “One through nine in the lineup had gotten on base by either a hit or a walk, and I think that’s the first time all year we’ve been able to say that. For them to intentionally walk Shelby to get to Ryan, a freshman, and for her to come through when she was behind in the count, that was a huge hit to score those two runs at the end. We showed a lot of fight, and I think this is just a lot of momentum we can build on from here moving forward.”
Maze went 3-for-4 to lead Samford at the plate. She also scored two runs, giving her a new school-record 139 runs scored for her career, breaking the old record of 137 set by current assistant coach Megan Dowdy (2013-16). Maze also now has 270 career hits, just four behind the current record of 274, also set by Dowdy.
“I think Shelby is going to own every record by the time she graduates,” Burford said. “The great thing about Shelby is, it doesn’t matter what day of the week it is, or what year it’s been, she’s the same person, day-in and dayout. She works hard, she does everything you ask. She’s the first one to pick up, the first one to clean up, and the first one to practice. She’s just the epitome of a hard worker who has shown perseverance. And her hard work is paying off, so you couldn’t be happier for a better person or player.”
Brzozoski was 1-for-3 with three RBI at the plate for Samford. Kelsey Royalty was 1-for-4 with a three-run home run and four RBI. Lexie Higgins also homered, going 1-for2 with one RBI. Mekhi Mayfield went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Bulldogs.
Taylor DeCelles ( 5- 10) pitched 3.0 innings, giving up three runs, just two earned on four hits to earn the win in the circle for the Bulldogs. Annalyn Yantis and McKenna Gillespie also pitched in the game for Samford.
For Jacksonville State, former Gordon Central High standout Ryann Luna went 3-for-4 with a home run and one RBI. Anna Chisolm went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI for the Gamecocks. Nicole Rodriguez (1-2) pitched 2.2 innings in relief, giving up two runs on two hits to take the loss for JSU.
After both teams scored a run in the first inning, Jacksonville State took a 4-1 lead with three runs in the top of the second inning. Samford came back to take the lead with four runs in the bottom of the third inning. Mayfield, Royalty and Whitney Hinton drove in a run each in the inning for Samford, and Royalty later scored on a wild pitch for a 5-4 Samford lead.
Jacksonville State took the lead again with three runs in the top of the fourth inning. Samford, however, matched that with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take an 8-7 lead. Samford’s runs in the fourth inning came on a three-run home run down the left-field line by Royalty.
Jacksonville State then took a 10-8 lead with three runs in the top of the fifth inning. Samford answered with one run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to 10-9. Higgins led the inning off with a home run to center field to bring Samford to within one run and set the stage for the decisive bottom of the seventh inning.
With the win, Samford improves to 12-26 on the season. Jacksonville State falls to 17-17 with the loss.
Samford will travel to Austin, Texas, this weekend for a three-game series at the University of Texas. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader Saturday at 11 a.m., and a single game Sunday, also at 11 a.m.
In other recent college softball news: The Basics Score: Appalachian State 8, Western Carolina 5; Western Carolina 5, Appalachian State 4
Records: Western Carolina 9-18, Appalachian State 13-18
-- Freshman Addie Pate hit the go-ahead homerun in game two to lift Western Carolina softball to a 5-4 win and split the doubleheader at Appalachian State Tuesday at Sywassink/Lloyd Stadium. The Mountaineers took game one 8-5. GAME 1 Turning Point: Appalachian State scored in four of the six innings including big three-run innings in the bottom of the first and the fifth.
How it Happened : - Western Carolina took the early 2-0 lead off a thundering two-run homerun by Hunter Gibbons.
- The Mountaineers quickly scored three runs in the bottom of the first to lead 3-2.
- Western Carolina was held scoreless for the next four innings as Appalachian State plated four more runs to lead 7-2.
- The Catamounts pulled within two runs on three consecutive homeruns by Madison Armstrong, Gibbons and Shaina Reed to trail 7-5.