April 13, 2010

Box Score

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Samford baseball team built a five-run lead and held on late for a 7-5 win at Alabama Tuesday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

Samford improves to 21-11 with the win, while Alabama drops to 21-12. The win was Samford's second-straight over the Crimson Tide, as the Bulldogs claimed a 14-13, 10-inning win late last season at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Samford starting pitcher Michael Gunter pitched 2.0 innings, giving up one run on three hits to earn the win. Freshman closer Lex Rutledge tossed the final 2.1 innings, giving up no runs on two hits and striking out five batters to earn his seventh save of the season.

"Lex was dynamite tonight," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "For a freshman to come in and pitch that well in that situation speaks volumes for him."

Samford was led at the plate by Mason Meredeth, going 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI. David Schulze was 3-for-5 with an RBI, while Wayne Miller went 3-for-5. Michael Johnson went 2-for-4 with his fourth home run of the season.

For Alabama, Jon Kelton went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Brett Whitaker pitched 3.0 innings, giving up two runs on four hits to take the loss.

Samford jumped on top first with a run in the top of the first inning. Miller reached base on an infield hit to lead off the inning. Miller then moved to second base on an Alabama error and then scored when Stephen Ballard singled to center field for a 1-0 Samford lead.

Alabama came back to tie the score with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Taylor Dugas singled to lead off the inning. Dugas later scored when Clay Jones singled to left field to make the score 1-1.

Samford plated a run in the third inning and another in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead. In the third inning, Meredeth doubled with one out and then scored on a single by Schulze to give Samford the lead. In the fourth inning, Johnson led the inning off with a home run to right field for a two-run Samford lead.

Samford added three runs in the top of the sixth inning to push its lead to 6-1. Meredeth singled to drive in Brad Moss and Miller for the first two runs in the inning. Gary Cramer later singled to drive in Meredeth for a five-run Samford lead.

Alabama came back with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Samford lead to 6-4. Andrew Miller singled to drive in Jake Smith for Alabama's first run of the inning. Dugas then hit a sacrifice fly to drive in David Kindred to make the score 6-3. Kelton later singled to drive in Brock Bennett to pull Alabama to within two runs.

Alabama plated another run in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Samford lead to 6-5. Dugas walked with the bases loaded to score Ross Wilson for Alabama's fifth run of the game.

Samford added one final run in the top of the eighth inning to make the final score 7-5. Meredeth singled to drive in Miller for the game's final run.

Samford will return to action on Friday, April 16, when the Bulldogs open a three-game Southern Conference series at Georgia Southern. Friday's series-opener is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start from Statesboro, Ga.