March 27, 2007

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team plated two runs in the eighth inning and five in the ninth to take a 12-11, come-from-behind win over UAB Tuesday night at UAB's Young Memorial Field.

With UAB leading, 11-5 in the eighth inning, Parker Gargis doubled down the left-field line with the bases loaded to drive in Garrett Rice and Joseph Ballew to cut the lead to 11-7.

In the ninth inning, Rice doubled to drive in Ballew and Jonathan Lowery to make the score 11-9. Pinch-hitter Tripp Swann then hit a two-run homer to right field, the first of his collegiate career, to tie the score at 11-11. Bear Burnett hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Kyle Krebs for the game-winning run.

For Samford (13-13) at the plate, Gargis was 2-for-5 with a home run, his 10th of the season, and three RBI. Rice was 2-for-2 with two doubles and two RBI.

Benji Waite (1-0) pitched 1.0 inning in relief, giving up just one hit to earn the win. Joseph Edens pitched the final inning to earn his seventh save of the season.

UAB (12-14) was led at the plate by Jonathan Merritt, going 2-for-4 with three RBI. Ben Shelley, J.R. Bond and Ryan Keedy had two hits each for the Blazers. James Oliver (1-1) tossed 1.1 innings, giving up five runs on four hits to take the loss on the mound.

Samford jumped on top early with a run in the top of the first inning. Gargis hit a solo home run to give Samford a 1-0 lead.

Samford added three runs in the top of the second inning to push its lead to 4-0. Krebs singled through the right side of the infield to drive in John Morgan for a 2-0 Samford lead. Michael Marseco was later hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Marcus Rodriguez to make the score 3-0. Bill Whitehead then scored when Gargis hit into a double play for a four-run Samford lead.

UAB came back with a run in the bottom of the second inning to cut the Samford lead to 4-1. Bond scored from third on a Samford error for UAB's first run of the game. The Blazers added another run in the third inning when Keedy hit a solo home run to right-center field to make the score 4-2.

The Blazers tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Bond scored the first run of the inning on a wild pitch. Billy Lichtner scored when Merritt hit a sacrifice fly to tie the score at 4-4.

With the score tied at 4-4, UAB plated seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take an 11-4 lead. Merritt drove in two runs, and Phil Bell, Bond, Lichtner and Shelley drove in one run apiece in the inning for the Blazers.

Samford plated one run in the top of the sixth inning. Morgan scored on a UAB error to make the score 11-5.

After Samford's comeback to take the lead, the Blazers threatened to score in the bottom of the ninth inning when Merritt singled, stole second base and advanced to third on an error with two outs. Edens struck out Bell to end the game and give Samford the win.

Samford and UAB will meet again Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.al.com/wvsu. Fans can also follow the game on the internet via GameTracker at www.samfordsports.com.