March 26, 2011

Box Score

ELON, N.C. - Samford starting pitcher Lex Rutledge pitched 7.0 strong innings, allowing just two hits and striking out a career-high 13 batters to lead the Bulldog baseball team to an 11-0 Southern Conference win at Elon Saturday afternoon at Latham Park.

Rutledge improved to 5-1 with the win. Josh Martin pitched the final 2.0 innings for the Bulldogs, allowing no hits and striking out two batters.

Samford was led at the plate by Phillip Ervin, going 4-for-6 with a home run, a double and four RBI. Brad Moss went 4-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Saxon Butler went 2-for-4 with an RBI for Samford.

"This was a just a great day all around," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "Lex came out after a tough loss last night and really kind of got right at them. He threw up zeros early and gave us confidence. And then we did a great job offensively of scoring early and then extending the lead late."

For Elon, Ken Ferrer (3-1) pitched 4.0 innings, giving up five runs on nine hits to take the loss on the mound. Neal Pritchard and Sebastian Gomez had a hit each for the Phoenix.

Samford jumped on top first with a run in the top of the third inning. Moss led the inning off with a double and then moved to third base on a one-out single by Ervin. Butler then singled to drive in Moss for a 1-0 Samford lead.

Elon's biggest scoring threat of the day came in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs, Rutledge walked Harry Austin, Jake Luce and Niko Fraser to load the bases. Rutledge, however, got Pritchard to fly out to center field to end the threat.

The Bulldogs plated four runs in the top of the fourth inning to push their lead to 5-0. Stephen Ballard was hit by a pitch with one out. He later scored from third base when Moss reached base on an infield single. With two outs, Ervin hit a three-run home run to left-center field with Tyler Filliben and Moss on base for a five-run Samford lead.

Samford finished the scoring with six runs in the top of the eighth inning to take an 11-0 lead. Ervin, Brandon Miller, Gary Cramer, Tommy Corbin and Moss drove in a run each in the inning, and Miller scored on an Elon error for the Bulldogs' six runs in the eighth inning.

Samford improves to 16-9 overall and 6-2 in SoCon play. Elon drops to 16-9 overall and 7-1 in league play.

Samford and Elon will conclude their three-game series with a game Sunday afternoon. Due to expected inclement weather, the game has been moved to a 1 p.m. (CT) start. 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 online via GameTracker at the link below.

GameTracker For Sunday's Game