Feb. 28, 2010

Box Score

KENNESAW, Ga. - Samford's Mason Meredeth hit an inside the park three-run home run to break a 2-2 tie in the top of the seventh inning in Samford's 5-3 win at Kennesaw State Sunday afternoon.

Meredeth hit the ball to the wall in right-center field and KSU's center fielder, Bucky Smith ran into the wall and the ball rolled away allowing all three runners to score.

The home run was the third of the season for Meredeth. It also marked the second inside the park homer by a Samford player in less than a week. Stephen Ballard hit an inside the park grand slam in Samford's 9-7 win at Troy on Tuesday.

The home run was Meredeth's lone hit of the day, going 1-for-5 with three RBI. Bo Smith was 2-for-5 on the day. Tripp Swann hit a two-run homer, going 1-for-2 with two RBI.

Andrew Jones (1-1) pitched 5.1 innings of relief, giving up two runs on three hits to get the win for the Bulldogs. Lex Rutledge pitched the final inning, giving up just one hit to earn his third save of the season.

For Kennesaw State, Ronnie Freeman was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Drew Fowlkes also drove in a run for the Owls. Zak Griffith pitched 1.1 innings, giving up two runs to take the loss on the mound.

Samford struck first with two runs in the top of the second inning. After Smith doubled to right field, Swann hit a home run to right field for a 2-0 Samford lead.

Kennesaw State came back with one run in the bottom of the second to make the score 2-1. Freeman singled to right field to drive in Ray Anderson for the Owls' first run of the game.

The Owls tied the score with one run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Sean McClurken doubled to begin the inning and later scored from third base, to make the score 2-2, when Fowlkes attempted to steal second base, but was thrown out by Brad Moss.

The score remained tied until the top of the seventh inning when Meredeth hit his inside the park homer to right-center field with Wayne Miller and Moss on base for a 5-2 Samford lead.

Kennesaw State plated one run in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Samford lead to 5-3. Fowlkes singled to left-center field to drive in McClurken for the game's final run.

With the win, Samford takes the series, two games to one. The Bulldogs improve to 5-3 on the season, while Kennesaw State drops to 1-6.

Samford will return to action on Tuesday when the Bulldogs play host to Alabama. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start from Joe Lee Griffin Field.