April 2, 2011

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Davidson baseball team plated six runs in the third inning and held on late for a 6-4 Southern Conference win over Samford Saturday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Samford's Lex Rutledge (5-2) pitched 2.2 innings, giving up six runs, only four earned, on four hits to take the loss on the mound for the Bulldogs. Rutledge struck out five batters and walked five in the loss. Gil Walker, Grant Sides, Josh Martin and Joseph Burns combined to pitch the final 6.1 innings, surrendering no runs on just four hits.

Samford was led at the plate by Stephen Ballard, going 2-for-4 with two RBI. Saxon Butler went 2-for-5 with an RBI, while Gary Cramer went 2-for-3 and Kevin Putkonen went 2-for-4 for the Bulldogs.

Ian Horkley (3-3) pitched 5.0 innings, giving up three runs on six hits to earn the win on the mound for the Wildcats. Andy Bass tossed the final 2.0 innings, allowing just one hit to pick up his third save of the season.

Davidson was led at the plate by Daniel Gerow, going 2-for-4 with a double. Andrew Barna and Kelly Myers drove in two runs each, both going 1-for-5 at the plate.

Samford took the lead first with a run in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, Cramer singled to center field and then advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Cramer then advanced to third base when Putkonen reached base on a bunt single. Ballard then singled to center field to drive in Cramer for a 1-0 Samford lead.

Davidson came back with six runs in the top of the third inning to take a 6-1 lead. Barna and Myers drove in two runs each in the inning. Myers and Michael Zeblo both scored on a Samford error to give Davidson a five-run lead.

Samford plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the Wildcats' lead to 6-3. After Michael Johnson walked to lead off the inning, Phillip Ervin doubled to left-center field to drive in Johnson for the first run of the inning. Butler then singled to center field to drive in Ervin to make the score 6-3.

The Bulldogs added one final run in the eighth inning to make the final score 6-4. Butler singled up the middle to lead off the inning. After moving to second base on a ground out, Butler scored when Ballard singled up the middle.

Samford, however, couldn't get any closer and the Bulldogs fell to the Wildcats, 6-4.

With the loss, Samford drops to 18-11 overall and 7-4 in SoCon play. Davidson improves to 13-13 overall and 6-7 in league play.

Samford and Davidson will conclude their SoCon series with a game Sunday at 1 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. The game can also be viewed online via the Bulldog Big Screen at www.samfordsports.com. Fans can follow the game online via GameTracker at the link below.

GameTracker For Sunday's Game