May 19, 2010

Box Score

ELON, N.C. - Elon's Jimmy Reyes pitched 7.0 innings, giving up just one run to give the Phoenix baseball team a 6-4 win over Samford in the first game of a three-game Southern Conference series Wednesday evening at Elon's Latham Park.

Samford drops to 29-22 overall and 16-11 in SoCon games. Elon improves to 35-19 overall and 18-10 in league play.

"This was a good effort," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "We just got beat by a good club with a really good arm. Our kids competed and played well against a good club. Obviously, Reyes was really sharp for them tonight."

The Bulldogs were led at the plate by Trey Hayes, going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Gary Cramer went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Jonathan Stephens (7-2) pitched 5.0 innings, giving up five runs on five hits to take the loss.

For Elon at the plate, Scott Riddle went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Ryan Adams went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Seth Canipe hit a home run in a 1-for-4 performance with three RBI. Reyes improved his season record to 9-3 with the win. Thomas Girdwood tossed the final 1.1 innings, allowing no hits to earn his eighth save of the season.

Samford jumped on top first with a run in the top of the first inning. Cramer singled to right field to drive in Michael Johnson, who had reached base on an infield single earlier in the inning, for a 1-0 Samford lead.

Elon came back with five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 5-1 lead. Adams singled to drive in Niko Fraser to tie the score at 1-1. After a 31-minute rain delay, Riddle singled to drive in Neal Pritchard to give the Phoenix a 2-1 lead. Canipe then homered to center field with Adams and Riddle on base for a four-run Elon lead.

The Phoenix added a run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Riddle hit a solo home run to left field to push Elon's lead to 6-1.

Samford added three runs in the top of the eighth inning to cut the Elon lead to 6-4. Wayne Miller scored from third base when Mason Meredeth reached base on a fielder's choice for Samford's second run of the game. Johnson then scored when Hayes reached base on a fielder's choice to make the score 6-3. Cramer then doubled to drive in Hayes to bring Samford to within two runs.

After Cramer's double, Stephen Ballard walked. Bo Smith then hit a long fly ball to right field that was caught against the wall by Elon's Justin Hilt to end Samford's threat.

Samford and Elon will continue their three-game SoCon series with a game Thursday at 3 p.m. (CT). The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.