March 9, 2008

Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team swept a doubleheader from Miami of Ohio Sunday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin. Samford won the first game, 6-5 in 10 innings, and the Bulldogs took game two by a score of 13-6.

With the win, Samford earns a sweep of the three-game series, and the Bulldogs improve to 6-5 on the season. The Redhawks drop to 1-7 with the loss.

"It was a great job by our kids of being resilient at the end of the first game," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "They (Miami) gave us some opportunities and made some mistakes, but we were able to capitalize on them and that's something we weren't able to do earlier this year. I was proud of our guys being able to get some big hits with two outs."

In game one, Samford plated four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for the second-straight game, this time tying the score at 5-5 and sending the game into extra innings where Bill Whitehead scored the game-winning run from third base on a passed ball.

In the ninth-inning comeback, Wayne Miller did most of the damage for Samford. Miller hit a three-run double to drive in Alex Godshall, John Morgan and Whitehead to tie the game. The Bulldogs had plated a run earlier in the inning when Stephen Ballard scored when Godshall reached base on an error.

For Samford in game one, Michael Rutledge was 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and an RBI. Morgan was 2-for-3 at the plate for Samford, and Miller drove in three runs in a 1-for-4 performance.

Freshman Grant Sides earned his first collegiate win on the mound, pitching 2.0 hitless innings and striking out two batters.

In game two for Samford, Michael Marseco was 3-for-4 with three RBI, and Marcus Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI. Bear Burnett also homered in a 1-for-4 performance.

Joshua Vanfleteren pitched 4.1 innings, giving up five runs on seven hits to pick up the win. Kyle Nichols pitched the final 1.2 innings in relief to pick up his first save of the season.

Samford fell behind, 5-0 in the top of the first inning, but the Bulldogs answered with five runs in the bottom of the first to tie the score at 5-5. Miller, Marseco, Rodriguez, Morgan and P.J. Fandetti drove in a run each for Samford in the first inning.

Samford added a run in the third inning, one in the fourth and three more in the fifth to take a 10-5 lead. Burnett hit a solo home run for the run in the third inning. Miller scored when Rutledge reached base on a fielder's choice for the run in the fourth inning. In the fifth inning, Marseco drove in two runs and Michael Johnson drove in one for a five-run Samford lead.

After Miami plated a run in the top of the sixth, Samford came back with three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to close out the scoring and make the score 13-6. Rodriguez accounted for all of Samford's runs in the sixth with a three-run homer to right-center field with Bronson McGriff and Whitehead on base.

Samford will return to action on Wednesday when the Bulldogs play at Alabama. The game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start from Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/groups/wvsu/.