Samford Wins Softball Invitational :: Middleton named MVP; Bednark and Fuller each make All-Tournament

Feb. 17, 2002

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford University won its second consecutive Samford Invitational Softball Tournament with a 7-4 win over Wagner and an 11-2 win over Alabama State to go a perfect 6-0 on the weekend.

Janet Middleton was named the tournament's most valuable player as she batted .556 with two home runs, four doubles, and nine RBI on the weekend. Middleton had four RBI in Sunday's 7-4 victory over Wagner which clinched the tournament championship for the Bulldogs. She doubled off the right field fence in the first inning to score Rebekah Phillips from third and Michelle Wright from first to give Samford (6-5) an early 2-0 lead. She then hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning to give the Bulldogs a 6-0 advantage.

Amber Fuller picked up her third win of the tournament against Alabama State in the final game of the tournament. She pitched 20 innings on the weekend giving up two runs, one earned, on seven hits. She struck out 22 batters, walked one, and posted a 0.35 ERA. Angela Bednark also made the All-Tournament team for Samford. She hit .444 with three home runs, two doubles and a tournament-high 12 RBI. Bednark and Middleton have each hit 10 home runs in their Samford careers and are tied with Michelle Ashley as Samford's career home run leaders.

Wagner (3-3) placed two players on the All-Tournament Team. Natalie Stollmeyer matched Middleton's .556 average on the weekend as the two players shared the highest average. Stollmeyer hit her second home run of the tournament in the fourth inning against Samford to get the Seahawks on the board. She was also a part of the three-run sixth inning that got Wagner back into the game against Samford. Jessica Van Manen went 2-4 against Samford and 4-4 with five RBI in Wagner's 20-0 rout over Alabama State in the first game of the day to earn All-Tournament honors. Nicole Fasano pitched a one-hitter against the Lady Hornets in Sunday's first game throwing five shutout innings and striking out four batters.

Alabama State (0-6) scored their only two runs of the tournament in the first inning of the final game against Samford. Marilyn Truitt led off the game with a double and came around to score on an RBI-single by Keneshia McKee. McKee advanced to second on a ground out and then scored when she stole third base and advanced home on an error to give ASU its first lead of the tournament. Samford responded with a run in the first and five runs each in the second and third innings. Fuller, Kelly Smith, Michelle Wright, Middleton, Bednark, and Deanna Resmondo all had RBI in the game for the Bulldogs.

Other tournament leaders left off the All-Tournament team were Wagner's Amanda Bongiorno who batted .438, Samford's Kelly Smith who hit .375 with a grand slam on Friday, teammate Tammy Stevens who also batted .375 with three RBI, and Alabama State's McKee who hit .364 for the Lady Hornets and had ASU's only RBI.

Samford will put its six-game winning streak on the line as it travels to Auburn on Tuesday afternoon for a double header with the Tigers. Samford is 5-5 all time against Auburn.