April 21, 2007

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Samford baseball team split an Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Eastern Illinois. Samford won the second game of the doubleheader, 7-6, after dropping game one by a score of 3-2.

With the split, Samford is now 19-20 overall and 5-9 in OVC play. Eastern Illinois is now 17-16 overall and 7-6 in conference play.

In game two, Samford was led at the plate by Bill Whitehead, going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Jonathan Lowery was 2-for-4 in game two. Bear Burnett drove in two runs in a 1-for-3 performance. Eric Lassiter pitched 5.1 innings, giving up three earned runs on eight hits to pick up the win. Joseph Edens earned his OVC-leading 10th save of the season, pitching the final inning, giving up one run on one hit.

For EIU in game two, Brett Nommensen went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Mike Manns pitched 1.2 innings, giving up five runs on four hits to take the loss on the mound for the Panthers.

In the second game, Samford plated two runs in the top of the first inning to take an early lead. Burnett scored the game's first run when Luke Peavy grounded out to third base. Louis Rojas later singled to right-center field to drive in Parker Gargis for a 2-0 Samford lead.

Samford added three runs in the top of the second to push its lead to 5-0. Burnett hit an infield single to drive in John Morgan and Whitehead to make the score 4-0. Peavy then singled up the middle to drive in Burnett for a five-run Samford lead.

The Bulldogs added a run in the top of the third to make the score 6-0. Whitehead singled up the middle to drive in Garrett Rice for Samford's sixth run of the game.

Samford pushed its lead to 7-0 with a run in the top of the fifth inning. Michael Marseco hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Morgan for a seven-run Samford lead.

EIU put two runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut Samford's lead to 7-2. Richie Derbak scored the Panthers' first run of the game on a Samford error. Adam Varrassi then scored from third base when Jordan Kreke grounded out to make the score 7-2.

The Panthers added two more runs in the sixth inning to cut the Samford lead to three runs. Nommensen doubled to left-center field to drive in Ryan Campbell to make the score 7-3. Pinch-runner Curt Restko later scored when pinch-hitter Erik Huber hit a sacrifice fly to cut the Samford lead t 7-4.

EIU plated another two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the final score 7-6. Ryan Meyer walked with the bases loaded to bring in the first run, and Nommensen hit an infield single to drive in Mark Chagnon for the game's final run.

In the first game for Samford at the plate, Rice was 2-for-3 with a home run and an RBI. Peavy also drove in a run in a 1-for-4 performance. David Knapp pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits to take the loss.

For EIU in the first game, Kreke and Nommensen had two hits each for the Panthers. Chris Vaculik pitched the complete 9.0 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and striking out eight batters to pick up the win.

Samford jumped on top first in game one when Rice hit a solo home run to left-center field in the top of the second inning for a 1-0 Samford lead.

Eastern Illinois came back to tie the score at 1-1 with a run in the bottom of the second inning. Derbak singled to right field to drive in Kory Peppenhorst to tie the score.

Samford retook the lead with a run in the top of the sixth inning. Peavy singled to right field to drive in Gargis, who earlier singled and stole second, to take a 2-1 lead.

Eastern Illinois answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie the score again. Peppenhorst singled up the middle to drive in Kreke to make the score 2-2.

EIU took the lead with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Varrassi doubled down the left-field line to drive in Nommensen from second base to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead.

Samford and Eastern Illinois will conclude their series with a single game Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. Fans can follow the game via GameTracker at the link below.

Live Stats For Game 3