April 13, 2008

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team completed a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series sweep of Austin Peay with a 7-5 win Sunday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

With the win, Samford remains in first place in the OVC with a 9-2 conference record. The Bulldogs are 21-11 overall. Austin Peay drops to 15-18 overall and 5-7 in league play.

Marcus Rodriguez and Michael Marseco each homered in the win for the Bulldogs. Marseco's home run, a solo shot which came in the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied at 5-5, extended his career-long hitting streak to 17 games.

"That, obviously, was a big home run for us," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "Mikey timed it just right, and that was a big hit for us."

Overall, Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with two RBI on the day. Michael Rutledge was also 2-for-4 for the Bulldogs. Kyle Nichols (1-2) pitched the final 2.1 innings, giving up no runs on two hits to earn the win on the mound for Samford.

For Austin Peay, Daniel Baggett went 3-for-3 at the plate. Trey Lucas went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Governors. Matt Kole pitched two-thirds of an inning in relief, giving up one run on one hit to take the loss.

After Austin Peay plated two runs in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead, Samford came back with three runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 3-2 lead. Tripp Swann singled to right field, and advanced to third on an Austin Peay error that allowed Rutledge to score from first base to make the score 2-1. Rodriguez then hit a two-run home run to left field with Swann on base for a 3-2 Samford lead.

Samford added two runs in the bottom of the fourth to push its lead to 5-2. Alex Godshall singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Swann for the first run of the inning. Michael Johnson then walked with the bases loaded to bring in Rodriguez for a three-run Samford lead.

Austin Peay came back with a run in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh to tie the score at 5-5. Baggett scored the run in the sixth inning on a Samford error. In the seventh inning, Greg Bachman hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Kole for the first run of the inning. The game-tying run scored when J.B. Gilbert singled to left field to drive in Will Hogue.

Samford plated two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the final score 7-5. Marseco's home run to left field, his second homer of the season, gave Samford the lead for good at 6-5. The game's final run scored when John Morgan singled up the middle to drive in Bear Burnett.

Samford will return to action on Tuesday evening when the Bulldogs play host to Mercer at 6 p.m. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/groups/wvsu/.