The Chattanooga Mocs softball team travels to Birmingham, Ala., to face Samford this weekend. The squads play a doubleheader Saturday starting at 2:00 p.m. (E.D.T.) and a lone game on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

"Samford gave us a hard time there two years ago," head coach Frank Reed stated. "Hopefully we'll make some adjustments and keep everyone as healthy as they are. If we have good pitching and defense, I think we're going to be good moving forward."

UTC is 19-16 after winning the series with Furman 2-1 in the opening weekend of Southern Conference play. The Mocs started the weekend off with a 5-2 victory before falling to the Paladins 6-5 on Friday. UTC outlasted Furman 5-4 on Saturday.

"We hit close to .100 higher than our average as a team last weekend," said Reed. "We need to continue to do that and be aggressive at the plate. I think we became more confident, especially as the weekend went on. Confidence breeds more aggressiveness. That's what we need to continue to do. Hopefully our pitching stays strong to keep them off base."

Senior Sam Taylor led the squad with six runs, six hits and two doubles against Furman. Freshman Katie Corum hit her first career home run, while freshman Jordan Fortel tallied her fourth and sophomore Ashley Conner had her second.

Chattanooga leads the series 36-8 against the Bulldogs.

Last season, Samford went 2-1 against the Mocs in Frost Stadium. The Bulldogs won 4-3 on May 2, 2015. On the next day, UTC lost a 5-1 contest and bounced back to earn a 4-3 win.

Samford is 18-15 and 3-0 in league play. It's coming off a 5-4 loss to Ole Miss on Tuesday and three wins over Mercer in Macon, Ga., 11-6, 6-1 and 10-3 last Friday and Saturday.

"They were the only team that swept in the conference, obviously they're a team to beat," commented Reed. "They beat a good team (Mercer)."

The Bulldogs swept the SoCon weekly softball honors. Abbie Miranda was named Player of the Week after hitting a grand slam in Samford's last game against the Bears. She boasts 23 RBI, 22 runs, 26 hits and five home runs on the season.

Mollie Hanson was selected as the Pitcher of the Week. She went 3-0 from the circle against Mercer, earning two complete-game wins. This past weekend she fanned 22 strikeouts and only had four walks.

Check the softball schedule page on GoMocs.com for links to live stats and video.