May 10, 2009

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - After a rain delay of over three hours, the Samford baseball team wrapped up the 2009 season with a 16-3 loss to Georgia Southern in the final game of a three-game Southern Conference series Sunday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Samford ends the season with a record of 17-35 overall and 9-21 in SoCon play, as the loss eliminates Samford from qualifying for the upcoming SoCon Tournament.

Georgia Southern improves to 35-14 overall and 17-8 in league play. The Eagles stand in second place in the league with one conference series remaining before the SoCon Tournament begins on May 20.

"I wish today would have turned out differently for this group of guys, but this was another tough day," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "This was not the way we wanted it to end, but unfortunately, it is the way the season has gone for us."

Samford was led at the plate by Stephen Ballard, going 3-for-4. Trey Hayes was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI.

Andrew Jones pitched 4.0 innings, giving up 11 runs on nine hits to take the loss for Samford. Mark Lewallyn, Grant Sides, Tyler Vanderheiden and Kyle Nichols also saw action on the mound. Nichols, a senior, also made his first collegiate plate appearance in the bottom of the ninth inning, going 0-for-1.

Georgia Southern hit four home runs in the game. A.J. Wirnsberger hit two home runs, while Ty Wright and Phillip Porter had one homer each. Wirnsberger drove in a total of seven runs in the game, tying a career high. Matt Murray pitched 5.0 innings, giving up three runs on six hits to earn the win.

Georgia Southern jumped out to an early lead with three runs in the top of the second inning. Wirnsberger hit a three-run homer with Kyle Blackburn and Porter on base for a 3-0 GSU lead.

Samford answered with a run in the bottom of the second inning, but GSU pulled away with six runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 9-1 lead. Porter had a two-run homer, Kevin Bowles doubled with the bases loaded to drive in three runs, and Griffin Benedict singled to drive in the final run for an eight-run GSU lead.

Samford cut the lead to 9-3 with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Hayes hit a home run with Bo Smith on base to cut the Eagles' lead to six runs.

GSU plated three runs in the fifth inning, one run in the sixth inning and three runs in the seventh to make the final score 16-3. Wirnsberger hit a three-run homer for the runs in the fifth inning. The sixth-inning run was scored on a sacrifice fly by Wirnsberger.

In the seventh inning, Wright hit a two-run homer for the first two runs of the inning. The game's final run scored when Roman Grimaldi reached base on a fielder's choice to drive in Benedict.

For the game, Georgia Southern pounded out 14 hits to Samford's eight. Samford left seven runners on base to GSU's six.

Prior to the game, Samford honored its five seniors. Joe Durham, Michael Jarry, David Knapp, Nichols and Stewart Young were the five seniors on Samford's 2009 baseball team.