CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (May 5, 2015) - A winner of three of its last four contests, the ETSU softball team will begin play in the 2015 Southern Conference Softball Championship Wednesday, May 6 at Frost Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The seventh-seeded Bucs will take on second-seeded Samford at 12:30 p.m.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Wednesday, May 6 - SoCon First Round

12:30 p.m. vs. Samford | SoCon Digital Network

GETTING UP TO SPEED

• The Buccaneers (15-31, 3-15) took two of three games from league opponent Mercer in ETSU's final regular-season series, earning wins in the series' first two games—both in walk-off fashion.

• ETSU earned a 2-1 victory in Game One, with senior righthander Whitney Leon (Dandridge, Tenn.) tossing a career-best 10 innings and striking out seven batters while allowing no earned runs. A walk-off triple by senior Nicole Fox (Peachtree City, Ga.) plated ETSU's game-winning run in the 10th inning.

• Freshmen Cassi Pickett (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Kelsey Smith (Tucson, Ariz.), who both earned spots on the SoCon All-Freshman Team, are batting .319 and .298, respectively, at the plate.

• Smith leads the Bucs with 41 runs batted in and 12 homers, and ranks first in the SoCon for home runs per game (0.28). Meanwhile, Pickett has hit a team-best seven doubles while maintaining a .412 on-base percentage.

• Freshman Malloree Schurr (Montgomery, Texas) has maintained a .412 batting average in 13 games this season. She has recorded a hit in eight-consecutive games.

• In league play, Schurr and Duncan were ETSU's leading hitters, batting at .440 and .429 clips, respectively.

• Duncan, who has swiped a team-best 15 bases this season, ranks second in the SoCon for stolen bases per game (0.43).

• Fox, the Bucs' leadoff hitter, has proven to be one of the toughest batters to strikeout in the SoCon. She is retired on strikes just once per 14.9 at bats.

OPPONENT AT A GLANCE

• Samford, the SoCon's leader for fielding percentage (.975), has won five of its last six games, including two wins in three games at SoCon regular-season champion Chattanooga.

• The Bulldogs (32-20, 11-7 SoCon) have committed just 37 errors this season. Samford is the SoCon's lone team to commit less than 40 errors.

• Junior outfielder Megan Dowdy is Samford's leading batter, having maintained a .441 batting average. She is one of two Samford players—along with Abby Adams—to start each of the Bulldogs' 52 games.

• In league play, Dowdy has batted .410 while recording a .471 on-base percentage.

• Abby Sweeney and Callie Brister lead Samford with 11 home runs apiece. Brister has driven in a team-best 37 runs.

BY THE NUMBERS

For more information on the SoCon tournament, click here.

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