March 4, 2011

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team split a doubleheader with Toledo Friday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field. Samford won the first game, 3-0, before falling in game two by a score of 8-3 in seven innings.

In game one, junior pitcher Kyle Putkonen (2-1) pitched a complete-game, five-hit shutout to earn the win. Putkonen struck out six batters while allowing no walks. The performance marked Samford's first complete game by a pitcher since May 1, 2009, when Michael Jarry earned a 5-4 win at The Citadel.

For Samford at the plate, Michael Johnson went 2-for-3 with a home run and an RBI. Brad Moss drove in two runs in a 1-for-3 performance.

Toledo's Mike Hamann allowed three runs on six hits over 7.0 innings of work to take the loss. Joe Corfman went 2-for-3 to lead the Rockets at the plate.

Samford jumped on top with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Johnson led the inning off with a home run to right field to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.

The Bulldogs added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to push their lead to 3-0. Moss singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Matt Frederick and Brandon Miller to give Samford a three-run lead.

In the second game, Joshua VenFleteren (1-1) pitched 2.2 innings, giving up seven runs, just two earned, on six hits and striking out two batters, to take the loss for the Bulldogs. Josh Martin, Grant Sides and Gil Walker also saw time on the mound for Samford.

Phillip Ervin went 3-for-3 at the plate for Samford. Brandon Miller went 2-for-2 with two RBI.

Kyle Shaw got the win for Toledo, pitching 2.0 innings and surrendering three runs on six hits. Jason Edwards and James Miglin each homered to lead the Rockets to the win.

Samford jumped on top first in game two with three runs in the first inning. Miller drove in two runs and Tommy Corbin drove in another to give the Bulldogs a three-run lead.

Toledo plated seven runs, only two earned, in the top of the third inning to give the Rockets a 7-3 lead. Edwards and Miglin each had two-run homers in the inning. Dan Sherwood also drove in two runs in the inning for the Rockets.

Toledo added another run in the sixth inning to make the final score 8-3. Wes White singled and later scored on a Samford error for the Rockets' eighth run of the game.

With the split, Samford moves to 7-5 on the season. Toledo is now 3-5 on the young season.

Samford and Toledo will try to play Saturday at 2 p.m., weather permitting. If they are unable to play on Saturday they will conclude the series Sunday at 1 p.m. The game can be viewed online via the Bulldog Big Screen at www.samfordsports.com.