April 29, 2009

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team plated four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull away for a 7-3 win over Alabama A&M in a non-conference game Wednesday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

With the win, Samford improves to 16-29 overall. Alabama A&M falls to 14-25 on the season with the loss.

For Samford at the plate, Stephen Ballard was 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and one RBI. Bo Smith was 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. David Schulze was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI, while Brad Moss went 2-for-4. Mason Meredeth was 0-for-3 at the plate ending a 29-game hitting streak, which was tied for the longest in school history.

Kyle Putkonen pitched 8.0 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits to earn the win and improve his record to 4-2. Putkonen struck out five batters in the game while walking just two.

Alabama A&M was led by Fabian Harper, going 3-for-4 with a double at the plate. Chris Jennings went 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI. A.J. Campbell pitched 6.1 innings, giving up five runs on eight hits to take the loss and drop his record to 1-5.

Samford jumped on top first with a run in the bottom of the first inning. With one out in the inning, Ballard singled up the middle. Meredeth then walked, moving Ballard to second base. Ballard then advanced to third base when Schulze fouled out to right field. Ballard scored when Smith reached base on an Alabama A&M error for a 1-0 Samford lead.

Alabama A&M tied the score with a run in the top of the third inning. Harper doubled to lead off the inning and then stole third base. After Jennings walked, Harper scored when Diego Lopez grounded into a double play to make the score 1-1.

Samford regained the lead with two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Ballard doubled to start the rally with one out. With two outs, Schulze doubled to drive in Ballard to make the score 2-1. Smith then singled to right field to drive in Schulze for a 3-1 Samford lead.

Alabama A&M tied the score again with two runs in the top of the fifth inning. Bernard McKinney walked with one out. Harper then singled and McKinney moved to second base. Jennings then doubled to drive in Harper and McKinney to tie the score at 3-3.

Samford took the lead for good with four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Ballard led the inning off with a solo home run to right-center field for the eventual game-winning run.

With one out, Schulze singled to left field. Smith then homered to right-center field to make the score 6-3. Trey Hayes and Matthew Bennett drew back-to-back walks. Hayes then advanced to third on a fly out by Bronson McGriff. Hayes scored the game's final run from third base when Bennett was caught stealing to make the final score 7-3.

Samford will return to action on Friday when the Bulldogs travel to Charleston, S.C., to take on The Citadel Bulldogs in the first game of a three-game Southern Conference series. Friday's series opener is scheduled for a 5 p.m. (CT) start.