March 18, 2005

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team defeated the Butler Bulldogs, 8-2, Friday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Samford (3-10) was led at the plate by Justin Worthington, going 3-for-5 with three RBI, and Parker Gargis was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Chandler Tidwell (1-3) was the winning pitcher, pitching 7.0 innings, giving up a run on six hits and striking out eight batters.

Butler (2-10) was led by Matt Martino, going 2-for-5. Bryan Bokowy (0-2) took the loss on the mound for Butler. Bokowy pitched 5.0 innings, surrendering four runs on eight hits.

Samford plated four runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 4-0 lead. After three-straight singles loaded the bases, Worthington singled to left field to drive in Bill Whitehead and Hunter Tubbs for a 2-0 Samford lead. Matt Alling later singled to left field to score John Morgan for the third run of the inning. Trey Moody flew out to right field to drive in Worthington for the inning's final run.

Butler came back with one run in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Samford lead to 4-1. Dustin Bucalo grounded out to second base to drive in Jonathan Day with Butler's first run of the game.

Samford put four more runs on the board in the sixth inning to increase its lead to 8-1. With the bases loaded once again, Worthington singled through the left side to drive in Tubbs to make the score 5-1. Gargis then flew out to center field to score Whitehead for a 6-1 Samford lead. Morgan scored on an error and Worthington scored on a wild pitch for the final two runs of the inning.

Butler finished the scoring with a run in the top of the eighth inning. Joe Pauley reached base on a fielder's choice to score Martino to make the final score 8-2.

Samford and Butler will conclude their series with a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. The games can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samfordsports.com.