April 6, 2008

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Samford pitcher Michael Jarry pitched eight strong innings, and the Bulldogs plated six runs in the eighth inning as the Samford baseball team took a 9-6 Ohio Valley Conference win Sunday afternoon at Jacksonville State.

"Michael had three pretty tough innings, but settled in to give us five zeros after that," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "You can't say enough to describe the type of performance he gave us. He competed like crazy and gave us a chance to win."

With the win, Samford moves into first place in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Bulldogs are now 17-10 overall and 6-2 in OVC play. JSU drops to 13-16 overall and 6-3 in league play.

Jarry pitched 8.0 innings, giving up four earned runs on 10 hits and struck out a career-high seven batters to earn the win, his first in a Samford uniform. Kyle Nichols came in to pitch with a runner on first base in the bottom of the ninth inning and got the next three batters out to earn his third save of the season.

For Samford (17-10, 6-2 OVC) at the plate, Michael Rutledge was 3-for-5 with two RBI. Bear Burnett, John Morgan and Bill Whitehead had two hits each for the Bulldogs.

JSU (13-16, 6-3 OVC) was led by Brian Piazza, going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Alex Jones pitched 0.1 innings in relief, giving up four runs to take the loss for the Gamecocks.

Samford entered the eighth inning trailing, 6-3, but the Bulldogs scored six runs and sent 11 batters to the plate in the top of the eighth to take the lead for good. Whitehead scored the first run of the inning when Wayne Miller was hit by a pitch. Rutledge then singled to drive in Bo Smith, and Michael Johnson scored on an error to tie the score at 6-6.

Miller later scored when Tripp Swann walked with the bases loaded to give Samford a 7-6 lead. Morgan then walked to bring in Rutledge to make the score 8-6. Burnett then scored from third when Whitehead reached base on a fielder's choice for the game's final run.

Samford jumped on top first with a run in the top of the first inning. After Michael Marseco walked with two outs, Rutledge doubled down the left-field line to drive in Marseco for a 1-0 Samford lead.

The Gamecocks answered with two runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-1 lead. After Bert Smith singled and stole second base, he scored when Steven Leach singled to right field to tie the score. JSU took the lead when Piazza doubled to right field to bring in Leach and give JSU the lead.

JSU added three runs in the bottom of the second inning to make the score 5-1. With Todd Cunningham on first base and Jake Sharrock on third, Smith singled to right field to drive in Sharrock, and Cunningham and Smith scored on a Samford error for a four-run JSU lead.

Samford plated two runs in the top of the third inning to cut the JSU lead to 5-3. Marseco singled to start the inning, and Morgan later singled to drive in Marseco to make the score 5-2. Samford's final run of the inning scored when Whitehead singled to drive in Burnett for Samford's third run of the game.

The Gamecocks plated another run in the bottom of the third inning to push their lead to 6-3. Clay Whittemore, who led the inning off with a single, scored from third base on a wild pitch for a three-run JSU lead.

Samford will return to action on Tuesday, April 8, when the Bulldogs play host to Troy. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start from Joe Lee Griffin Field, and it can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/groups/wvsu/.