May 14, 2010

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team built an early lead and hung on late for a 7-6 Southern Conference win over Western Carolina in the first game of a three-game series Friday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Samford improves to 28-20 overall and 15-9 in SoCon play with the win. Western Carolina drops to 30-17-1 overall and 12-12-1 in league play with the loss.

Samford was led at the plate by Stephen Ballard, going 3-for-4. Michael Johnson went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Mason Meredeth hit a two-run home run in a 1-for-4 performance at the plate. Trey Hayes went 2-for-4 for the Bulldogs.

Jonathan Stephens pitched 5.1 innings, giving up five runs on seven hits and striking out four batters while walking none to get the win and improve to 7-1 on the season. Stephens is now 14-1 in his career at Samford.

Lex Rutledge tossed the final 1.2 innings, holding the Catamounts hitless and striking out four batters to earn his 10th save of the season. Rutledge is now one away from Samford's single-season record for saves which is 11 set by Joseph Edens in 2006.

For Western Carolina at the plate, Ollie Goulder went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Cameron Dullnig and Trevor Collias each had two hits and an RBI for the Catamounts. Taylor Sandefur pitched 6.0 innings, giving up seven runs on nine hits to take the loss and drop to 1-2 on the season.

Samford plated three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take an early three-run lead. Wayne Miller, who opened the inning with a walk, scored from third base on a wild pitch for the game's first run. Gary Cramer later singled through the right side of the infield to drive in Ballard and Bo Smith to make the score 3-0.

The Bulldogs added a run in the bottom of the third inning to push their lead to 4-0. Johnson doubled to left field to drive in Smith for a four-run Samford lead.

Western Carolina came back with three runs in the top of the fourth inning to cut the Samford lead to 4-3. Dullnig singled up the middle to drive in Collias for the Catamounts' first run of the game. Tyler White then doubled to left-center field to drive in Dullnig and Goulder to bring WCU to within one run.

Samford plated two runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth inning to make the score 6-3. Meredeth hit a home run to left field, his 11th homer of the season, with Ballard on base for a three-run Samford lead.

Samford made the score 7-3 with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Johnson hit a solo home run to right field for Samford's final run of the game.

Western Carolina plated two runs in the top of the sixth inning to make the score 7-5. Goulder hit a two-run homer to left field with Collias on base for the two runs in the sixth.

The Catamounts added one final run in the top of the eighth inning to cut the Samford lead to 7-6. Collias tripled to right-center field to drive in Ross Heffley for the game's final run.

After Collias' triple, Rutledge relieved Andrew Jones on the mound. Rutledge got the Bulldogs out of the eighth inning with no further damage and he struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning to secure the win for the Bulldogs.

Samford and Western Carolina will continue their three-game SoCon series with a game Saturday afternoon. The game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start from 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. Fans can also follow the game live on the internet via GameTracker at the link below.

GameTracker For Saturday's Game