March 11, 2009

Box Score

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Samford baseball team dropped an 11-6 decision at Alabama Wednesday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

For Samford at the plate, Matthew Bennett was 2-for-5 with two RBI. David Schulze also drove in a run for the Bulldogs.

Kyle Putkonen pitched 3.0 innings, giving up six runs on nine hits to take the loss. Josh Martin, Mark Lewallyn and Kyle Nichols also saw time on the mound for Samford.

Alabama was led at the plate by Taylor Dugas, going 4-for-4 with an RBI. Kent Matthes, Cody Trotter and Ross Wilson each homered for Alabama in the game.

Nathan Kilcrease pitched 4.0 innings, giving up one run on three hits to pick up the win. Austin Evans pitched the final 1.1 innings to earn the save.

Alabama jumped on top with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Dugas walked to lead off the inning. With one out, Matthes hit a home run to center field to give the Crimson Tide a 2-0 lead.

The Crimson Tide added a run in the second inning to make the score 3-0. Dugas doubled to right-center field to drive in Jake Smith, who had singled earlier in the inning, for Alabama's third run of the game.

Samford plated a run in the top of the third inning to cut the Alabama lead to 3-1. Stephen Ballard was hit by a pitch to lead the inning off. After moving to second base on a Mason Meredeth single, Ballard went to third base on a wild pitch and scored on an Alabama error for Samford's first run of the game.

Alabama added three runs in the third inning to make the score 6-1. Wilson drove in one run and Smith drove in two in the inning for the Crimson Tide. Alabama added another run in the fifth inning when Trotter led the inning off with a solo home run for a 7-1 Alabama lead.

Samford added two runs in the top of the sixth inning to cut the Alabama lead to 7-3. Schulze and Trey Hayes scored when Brad Moss reached base on an Alabama error.

Samford plated two more runs in the top of the seventh to make the score 7-5. With the bases loaded, Bennett singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Ballard and Schulze.

Samford pulled to within one run with a run in the top of the eighth inning. Wayne Miller singled and then moved to second base on a ground out. After a walk to Meredeth, Miller scored when Schulze singled up the middle to make the score 7-6.

Alabama came back with four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to push its lead to 11-6. Wilson hit a three-run home run to left field with Dugas and Josh Rutledge on base to give the Crimson Tide a four-run lead. The final run of the inning was scored when Smith singled to left field to drive in Trotter.

With the loss, Samford drops to 5-8 on the season. Alabama improves to 9-4 with the win.

Samford will return to action on Friday, when the Bulldogs open a three-game Southern Conference series at Furman in Greenville, S.C. Friday's game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start.