March 16, 2011

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team scored nine runs and pounded out 13 hits on its way to a 9-2 win at cross-town rival UAB Wednesday evening at Young Memorial Field.

The win is Samford's fifth-straight victory and improved the Bulldogs' record to 13-6. Samford has now won the last four meetings in its series with UAB. The Blazers fell to 8-8 with the loss.

Samford was led at the plate by Saxon Butler, going 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Michael Johnson, Phillip Ervin and Tripp Swann had two hits each for the Bulldogs. Tyler Filliben drove in two runs in a 1-for-4 performance.

Samford's Josh Martin (2-1) pitched 3.0 innings, giving up one run on one hit and striking out three batters to earn the win on the mound. Arthur Strauss, Sean Handlan, Gil Walker, Tyler Vanderheiden and C.K. Irby also saw time on the mound for Samford.

UAB's Nick Crawford, Jamal Austin, Ivan De Jesus and Michael Busby had one hit each for the Blazers. Chase Mallard (0-1) pitched 4.0 innings, giving up five runs, three earned, on nine hits to take the loss.

Samford jumped on top first with two runs in the top of the first inning. Ervin and Johnson both scored on UAB errors to give Samford a 2-0 lead.

UAB answered with a run in the bottom of the second inning to cut the Samford lead to 2-1. De Jesus scored from third base on a wild pitch for the Blazers' first run of the game.

The Bulldogs added two runs in the third inning to push its lead to 4-1. Swann scored from third base when Stephen Ballard hit a sacrifice fly to center field for the first run of the inning. Filliben later singled to center field to drive in Kevin Putkonen for a three-run Samford lead.

Samford added a run in the fourth inning and three more in the sixth to push its lead to 8-1. In the fourth inning, Swann doubled to right field to drive in Butler to make the score 5-1. In the sixth inning, Butler doubled to right field to drive in Ervin and Johnson for the first two runs of the inning. Butler later scored on a UAB error to give Samford a seven-run lead.

UAB added a run in the eighth inning to make the score 8-2. Matt Morse scored on a Samford error for the Blazers' second run of the game.

Samford plated one final run in the top of the ninth inning to make the final score 9-2. Filliben hit a sacrifice fly to left-center field to drive in Brandon Powell for the game's final run.

Samford will return to action on Friday, March 18, when the Bulldogs play host to SoCon foe Georgia Southern. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start from Joe Lee Griffin Field.