April 9, 2010

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team claimed its eighth-straight Southern Conference win with a 9-5 victory over UNC Greensboro Friday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

With the win, Samford improves to 18-11 overall and 9-1 in Southern Conference play. UNC Greensboro drops to 14-16 overall and 2-10 in SoCon play.

"It's big for us to win the first game of a series," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "Our job every weekend is to win a series and it's a heck of a lot easier to take one when you win the first game."

Samford was led at the plate by Gary Cramer, going 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBI. Mason Meredeth and David Schulze each hit solo home runs in the game. Overall, Schulze was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Wayne Miller, Stephen Ballard and Brad Moss had two hits each for the Bulldogs.

"Gary is swinging the bat well for us," Dunn said. "Coming into this year he was going to be the left-handed bat off the bench for us but early in the year he did such a good job of not getting out, he kind of forced our hand. Gary's gotten some opportunities and has made the most of it. To have a quality left-handed bat near the end of our order is a big boost for our lineup."

Michael Gunter earned the win on the mound for Samford, pitching an inning in relief, giving up just one hit. Jonathan Stephens started the game, pitching 4.2 innings, giving up four runs, only two earned, on six hits. Andrew Jones pitched 2.1 innings in relief of Gunter, giving up no runs on just two hits. Lex Rutledge closed the game for the Bulldogs, pitching one hitless inning.

For UNC Greensboro at the plate, Kris Richards went 2-for-4 with a home run and one RBI. Harry Slade and Chris Barker each went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Spartans. Warren Slack pitched 3.0 innings, giving up five runs on eight hits to take the loss.

Samford jumped on top first with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Miller singled through the right side of the infield to lead off the inning. After advancing to second base on a passed ball and third base on a wild pitch, Miller scored when Meredeth reached base on a fielder's choice for a 1-0 Samford lead.

Samford added four runs in the third inning to push its lead to 5-0. Schulze homered to right field for the first run of the inning. The home run was Schulze's team-leading ninth of the season. Cramer tripled to right-center field to drive in Trey Hayes and Bo Smith for a four-run Samford lead. Michael Johnson then singled up the middle to drive in Cramer for Samford's fifth run of the game.

UNC Greensboro came back with four runs in the fifth inning to cut the Samford lead to 5-4. Richards homered to left field to start the rally. Ray Quinones hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Slade to make the score 5-2. Ed Jayjack later doubled to right field to drive in Corey Overholtzer and Barker to bring UNCG to within one run.

Samford added a run in the sixth inning to make the score 6-4. Meredeth hit a solo home run to left field, his eighth of the season, for a two-run Samford lead.

The Bulldogs plated three runs in the seventh inning to push their lead to 9-4. Miller tripled to right-center field to drive in Moss and Cramer for the first two runs of the inning. Miller scored the inning's final run on a wild pitch for a five-run Samford lead.

UNC Greensboro added one final run in the top of the ninth inning to make the final score 9-5. Quinones hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Slade for the game's final run.

The teams will continue their three-game series with a game Saturday at 1 p.m. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. The game can also be viewed online via the Bulldog Big Screen at www.samfordsports.com. Fans can also follow the game live on the internet via GameTracker at the link below.

GameTracker For Saturday's Game