April 15, 2009

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford junior outfielder David Schulze singled up the middle to drive in Stephen Ballard with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift the Bulldog baseball team to a 14-13 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide Wednesday evening at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

The game was played in front of a Joe Lee Griffin Field record crowd of 2,145.

"This was as resilient an effort as you could have," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "You can't ask anything more of the kids than the way they fought and played hard and just continued to score."

Samford was led at the plate by Wayne Miller, going 3-for-6 with a home run, a triple and four RBI. Bo Smith was 3-for-5 with a triple and two RBI, while Ballard was 3-for-6 with an RBI.

Schulze finished the night 1-for-5 at the plate with an RBI. Brad Moss also homered in a 1-for-2 performance for Samford. Mason Meredeth extended his current hitting streak to 22 games, going 1-for-5 on the night.

Bronson McGriff pitched the final inning for Samford to earn the win and improve to 1-0 on the season. McGriff was one of six pitchers used in the game by the Bulldogs. Josh Martin, Dayne Cutrell, Grant Sides, Mark Lewallyn and Kyle Nichols also saw action on the mound for Samford.

Alabama's Jake Smith hit for the cycle, going 4-for-5 with a home run, a triple, a double and two RBI. Ross Wilson and Brandon May also had home runs for the Crimson Tide.

Smith also pitched the final 3.0 innings for Alabama, giving up two runs on four hits to take the loss and drop to 0-1 on the season. Smith was one of five pitchers used in the game by Alabama.

Samford held a 13-11 lead heading into the ninth inning. After Del Howell was hit by a pitch, Cal Tinsley, who pinch ran for Howell, advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Taylor Dugas. Josh Rutledge then walked and Tinsley advanced to third base on a fly out. Rutledge then stole second base and both runners scored when the throw to second base was kicked into center field to tie the score and force extra innings.

With one out in the bottom of the 10th inning, Ballard singled up the middle to start the game-winning rally. Meredeth then fouled out to third base and Ballard advanced to second base. Schulze then singled up the middle to bring in the winning run.

Alabama jumped on top first with a run in the top of the first inning, but Samford came back to tie the score with a run in the bottom of the first.

Alabama plated one run in the second inning and two more in the third to take a 4-1 lead. Samford, however, came back to tie the score with three runs in the third inning. Smith drove in one run and Trey Hayes drove in two in the third to tie the score at 4-4.

After each team scored a run in the fourth inning, Alabama took a 6-5 lead with a run in the fifth inning.

Samford took the lead with three runs in the sixth inning at 8-6. Miller homered to center field with Michael Johnson and Stewart Young on base to give Samford its first lead of the game.

Alabama came back with four runs in the top of the seventh inning to take the lead back at 10-8. Clay Jones, Kyle Moore, Dugas and Rutledge drove in a run each for Alabama in the inning.

Samford answered with five runs in the bottom of the seventh to take a 13-10 lead. Joe Durham drove in a run and later scored on a wild pitch in the inning. Miller and Ballard each drove in a run in the inning, while Johnson scored from third base on a balk for the Bulldogs.

"I think the seventh inning when they scored four runs and we answered with five was the story of the game," Dunn said.

Alabama added one run in the eighth inning to cut the lead to 13-11 and set the stage for the Crimson Tide's comeback in the ninth inning to force extra innings.

At the conclusion of the game, Samford held a Cash Drop. A helicopter, donated by Crane Works, dropped money onto the field, while hundreds of fans were allowed to grab the money after it fell.

With the win, Samford improves to 13-24 overall. Alabama drops to 24-13 on the season with the loss.

Samford will return to action on Friday when the Bulldogs open a three-game Southern Conference series at Western Carolina. Friday's series-opener is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. (CT) from Cullowhee, N.C.