May 22, 2008

Box Score

PADUCAH, Ky. - The second-seeded Samford baseball team fell to fourth-seeded Eastern Illinois, 8-4, in its first game in the 2008 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Thursday afternoon at Brooks Stadium.

With the loss, Samford drops to 33-22 on the season. The Bulldogs will play again Friday at 11 a.m. against fifth-seeded Tennessee Tech in an elimination game. Eastern Illinois improves to 25-28 with the win, and the Golden Eagles will play Friday night at 6:30 p.m. against the winner of Thursday night's game between Southeast Missouri and Jacksonville State.

"We didn't do a good job on the bases and we didn't get timely hits," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "They gave us opportunities, but we failed to capitalize. It's frustrating when you have 18 base runners and you only score four runs. We just did a poor job of running the bases and a poor job of getting timely hits."

In the game, Samford left 10 runners on base to just four for Eastern Illinois.

Michael Marseco was 3-for-3 with two triples and an RBI. With the three hits, Marseco now has 91 hits this season, marking the first time a Samford player has reached the 90-hit mark.

Michael Rutledge was 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Joshua Vanfleteren pitched 2.0 innings in relief, giving up three earned runs on one hit to take the loss on the mound.

For EIU, Jordan Tokarz was 2-for-5 with three RBI. Ryan Lindquist was 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Panthers. Tristan Facer hit a solo home run in a 1-for-2 performance. Scott Foley pitched the final 2.2 innings, giving up no runs on four hits to pick up the win for EIU.

With the game tied, 4-4, in the top of the ninth inning, EIU plated four runs to take an 8-4 lead. Jordan Kreke reached base on an error to lead the inning off. With one out, Lindquist singled through the right-side of the infield, and Curt Restko walked to load the bases. Kreke then scored on a wild pitch for the eventual winning run. Brett Nommensen was then intentionally walked to load the bases. Tokarz then doubled to left-center field to drive in Nommensen, Restko and Lindquist to give the Panthers a four-run lead.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Marseco tripled with two outs, and Rutledge reached on a bunt single, but Samford was unable to get any runs across as the Bulldogs fell, 8-4.

Eastern Illinois got on the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the second inning. Facer led the inning off with a solo home run to left field to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

Samford took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Michael Johnson led the inning off with an infield single. After Bill Whitehead popped out, Marseco tripled to left-center field to drive in Johnson to tie the score at 1-1. Rutledge then doubled to left-center field to drive in Marseco to give Samford a 2-1 lead.

The Panthers tied the score with a run in the top of the fifth inning. Kreke led the inning off with a single. Kreke then stole second base and moved to third on a ground out. Lindquist then grounded out to short stop to drive in Kreke to tie the score at 2-2.

EIU took the lead again with two runs in the top of the sixth inning. Tokarz doubled down the left-field line with one out to start the rally. After Tokarz moved to third base on a ground out, Facer was hit by a pitch. Richie Derbak then doubled to right field to drive in Tokarz and Facer to give the Panthers a 4-2 lead.

Samford came back to tie the score with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Marcus Rodriguez singled, Drew Reagan walked and Wayne Miller reached base on an error to load the bases with no outs. John Morgan was then hit by a pitch to bring in Rodriguez to make the score 4-3. Reagan then scored when Johnson hit into a double play to tie the score at 4-4.

Friday morning's game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/groups/wvsu/. Fans can also follow the game live on the internet via GameTracker at the link below.

GameTracker For Friday's Game