March 27, 2011
Box Score
ELON, N.C. -
The Samford baseball team dropped the third and final game of its Southern Conference series at Elon, falling by a score of 4-2 Sunday afternoon at Latham Park.
Samford falls to 16-10 overall and 6-3 in SoCon play with the loss. Elon improves to 17-9 overall and 8-1 in league play.
Charles Basford (2-2) pitched 6.0 innings, giving up four runs, only two earned, on seven hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford. Grant Sides, Tyler Vanderheiden and Andrew Jones also saw time on the mound for Samford.
Phillip Ervin went 2-for-4 to lead Samford at the plate, extending his current hitting streak to 18 games. Stephen Ballard was also 2-for-4 at the plate for Samford. Brandon Miller and Gary Cramer each hit solo home runs in the loss for the Bulldogs.
For Elon, Jared Kernodle (4-1) pitched 7.0 innings, allowing just one run on six hits to earn the win. Mitch Conner picked up his fifth save of the season, tossing the final inning and allowing one run on one hit.
Garrett Koster led the Phoenix at the plate going 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. Ryan Kinsella went 2-for-4 at the plate for Elon.
Elon jumped on top first with one run in the bottom of the second inning. Kinsella singled to lead off the inning. After moving to second base on a walk and third on a fielder's choice, Kinsella scored on a Samford error to give Elon a 1-0 lead.
Samford tied the game with a run in the top of the fourth inning. Miller led the inning off with a solo home run to left field to make the score 1-1.
Elon took the lead again with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out, Sebastian Gomez walked and then Scott Carcaise reached base on a Samford error. Koster then homered to left field to give the Phoenix a 4-1 lead.
Samford plated one run in the top of the ninth inning to finish the scoring. Cramer led the inning off with a home run to right field for Samford's final run of the game.
Samford will return to action on Tuesday, March 29, when the Bulldogs play host to in-state rival Jacksonville State. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start from Joe Lee Griffin Field.
At Tuesday night's game, Samford athletics, SGA and Greek Life is sponsoring a Crawfish Boil from 5-7 p.m., and the athletics department will also be raising money for Susan G. Komen For The Cure for breast cancer research. For more information, contact Hollie Huey at hhuey@samford.edu or 205-726-4344 by Tuesday at noon.
