March 6, 2011
Box Score
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-- Samford sophomore pitcher Lex Rutledge pitched 6.0 no-hit innings to lead the Bulldog baseball team to a 10-0 win over Toledo Sunday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
In his 6.0 innings of work, Rutledge (2-1) struck out 10 batters while walking just two. Andrew Jones pitched 2.0 innings, allowing two hits and C.K. Irby pitched the final inning, allowing no hits to close the game out.
Brandon Miller went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI to lead Samford at the plate. Michael Johnson went 3-for-5 with two RBI. Stephen Ballard went 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Kevin Putkonen was 2-for-5 with an RBI.
For Toledo, Lincoln Rassi took the loss on the mound, pitching 4.0 innings and giving up seven runs on eight hits. James Miglin and Matt Delewski had the two hits for the Rockets.
Samford got the scoring started with a run in the third inning. Tyler Filliben reached base on an error and later scored from third base when Johnson grounded out to shortstop to give Samford a 1-0 lead.
The Bulldogs broke the game open with four runs in the fourth inning and three more runs in the fifth to push their lead to 8-0.
Miller hit a home run to left-center field with one out for the first run in the fourth inning. Brad Moss drove in two runs and Johnson drove in another in the fourth inning. In the fifth inning, Miller, Putkonen and Ballard drove in a run each for an eight-run Samford lead.
Samford added a run in the seventh inning and another run in the eighth to make the final score 10-0. Filliben hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Putkonen for the run in the seventh inning. Byron Soler singled up the middle to drive in Johnson in the eighth inning for the game's final run.
With the win, Samford improves to 8-5 on the young season. The Bulldogs are now 8-1 at home. Toledo drops to 3-6 with the loss.
Samford will return to action on Tuesday night when the Bulldogs travel to Jacksonville, Ala., to take on in-state rival Jacksonville State. The game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start from Rudy Abbott Field.
