May 1, 2010

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team dropped a 14-6 decision to SoCon-leading The Citadel Saturday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field. Samford's loss evens the series between the two teams. Sunday's series finale has been moved to 12 p.m. due to forecasted inclement weather for the Birmingham area.

With the loss, Samford drops to 24-18 overall and 12-7 in Southern Conference play. The Citadel improves to 29-16 overall and 17-3 in league play.

Samford was led at the plate by David Schulze, going 3-for-5 with an RBI. Schulze extended his current hitting streak to 18 games, the longest on the team this season. Tripp Swann went 2-for-2 with an RBI. Mason Meredeth, Trey Hayes and Marcus Rodriguez had two hits each for the Bulldogs.

Kyle Putkonen pitched 3.1 innings, giving up 10 runs, just three earned due to five Samford errors, on eight hits to take the loss and drop his season record to 3-4. Dayne Cutrell, Joshua VanFleteren and Tyler Vanderheiden also saw time on the mound for Samford.

The Citadel was led by Bryan Altman, going 4-for-4 with a home run, two doubles and four RBI. Brad Felder went 4-for-5 at the plate for The Citadel. Grant Richards went 2-for-5 with a double and five RBI. David Greene hit his second home run of the series in a 2-for-4 performance with two RBI. Justin Mackert and Kyle Jordan also had two hits apiece for The Citadel.

Matt Talley tossed 7.0 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and striking out five batters to earn the win and improve to 5-2 on the season. Chris Boyce and Nick Sprowls pitched the final 2.0 innings for The Citadel.

The Citadel jumped out to an early lead with four runs in the top of the first inning. Altman singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Nick Orvin for the game's first run. Jordan later grounded out to the pitcher to drive in Felder for a two-run lead. Richards later singled to center field to drive in Altman and Matt Simonelli to make the score 4-0.

The Citadel added two runs in the third inning to push its lead to 6-0. Mackert and Altman both scored when Richards reached on a Samford error for a six-run Citadel lead.

The Citadel plated four more runs in the fourth inning to make the score 10-0. Altman doubled to left-center field to drive in Simonelli and Orvin for the first two runs of the inning. Jordan later singled up the middle to drive in Altman, and Richards hit a sacrifice fly to left field to drive in Mackert for the final runs of the inning.

Samford got on the scoreboard with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Rodriguez scored Samford's first run of the game on a wild pitch. Michael Johnson later doubled to right-center field to drive in Austin Allison to make the score 10-2. Schulze later singled to third base to drive in Davis Harrison to cut The Citadel's lead to 10-3.

The Citadel answered with three more runs in the top of the eighth inning to push its lead to 13-3. Altman hit a solo home run to left field and Greene hit a two-run homer to left-center field for a 10-run lead for The Citadel.

In the top of the ninth inning, The Citadel put up one more run to make the score 14-3. Richards doubled down the left-field line to drive in Mackert for The Citadel's final run of the game.

Samford plated three final runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to make the final score 14-6. Swann singled through the right-side of the infield to drive in Meredeth for Samford's first run of the inning. Tommy Corbin later hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Schulze. The game's final run scored when Hayes scored from third base when Allison reached base on a fielder's choice.

Samford and The Citadel will conclude their three-game SoCon series with a game Sunday at 12 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. The game can be viewed online via the Bulldog Big Screen at www.samfordsports.com. Fans can also follow the game online via GameTracker at the link below.

GameTracker For Sunday's Game