March 19, 2011

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team grabbed an early five-run lead and never looked back on its way to a 9-2 Southern Conference win over Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Saxon Butler hit a grand slam in the second-consecutive game, going 3-for-5 with four RBI. Brandon Miller also homered for the second-straight game. Miller was 3-for-5 with an RBI in Saturday's win. Kevin Putkonen went 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Phillip Ervin was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Lex Rutledge (4-1) earned the win, pitching 7.0 innings, giving up two runs on four hits and striking out seven batters to earn the win. C.K. Irby tossed the final two innings for the Bulldogs.

For Georgia Southern, Eric Phillips was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Josh Adams (4-2) gave up four runs on three hits in 1.0 inning to take the loss for the Eagles.

Samford plated a run in the first inning and four more in the second inning to take an early 5-0 lead.

In the first inning, Ervin was hit by a pitch with one out. Ervin later scored from third base when Putkonen singled to right field to give Samford a 1-0 lead.

In the second inning, Tommy Corbin singled and Tyler Filliben and Brad Moss walked to load the bases. After the next two batters were retired, Butler hit a grand slam to center field to make the score 5-0.

Georgia Southern came back with two runs in the top of the third inning to cut the Samford lead to 5-2. Brent Pugh scored when Michael Burruss reached base on a fielder's choice for the Eagles' first run of the game. Arthur Owens later scored when Phillips reached base on a bunt single to bring Georgia Southern to within three runs.

Samford added a run in the fifth inning, one in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh to make the final score 9-2. In the fifth inning, Miller hit a solo home run to left field to make the score 6-2. The run in the sixth inning scored when Ervin singled up the middle to drive in Michael Johnson. In the seventh inning, Putkonen drove in a run and Miller score on a wild pitch for the game's final two runs.

The win was Samford's seventh-straight victory. The Bulldogs improve to 15-6 overall and 5-0 in Southern Conference play. Georgia Southern drops to 11-9 overall and 3-2 in league play.

The teams will conclude their three-game series with a game Sunday at 1 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field. Fans can follow the game online via GameTracker at the link below.

GameTracker For Sunday's Game