April 23, 2011

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team dropped a 5-3 decision in the final game of its Southern Conference series with UNC Greensboro Saturday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

With the loss, Samford falls in the series, two games to one. The Bulldogs drop to 24-17 overall and 12-9 in SoCon play. UNC Greensboro improves to 21-17 overall and 11-7 in league play.

"Obviously, this was a tough weekend for us," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "We had three competitive games and we came up on the short end twice. Tip your hat to their guys, they got bigger hits and made bigger plays than we did."

Samford starting pitcher Kyle Putkonen (5-2) pitched 6.2 innings, giving up five runs on 10 hits, striking out four batters and walking none to take the loss for the Bulldogs. Lex Rutledge and Grant Sides combined to pitch the final 2.1 innings, allowing no hits.

At the plate for Samford, Phillip Ervin went 3-for-4. Tyler Filliben was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Brad Moss and Kevin Putkonen both went 2-for-4 for the Bulldogs.

UNC Greensboro's Colby Hyatt (6-2) tossed 6.0 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits to earn the win. Jonathan Jones pitched the final 3.0 innings, allowing just two hits, to pick up his second save of the season.

Bobby Martin led the Spartans at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Drew Gehringer went 2-for-3 with two RBI for UNC Greensboro.

UNC Greensboro jumped on top first with two runs in the top of the first inning. Gehringer singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Martin and John Hein to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead.

Samford answered with two runs in the bottom of the second inning to tie the score at 2-2. Filliben doubled down the left field line to drive in C.K. Irby and Kevin Putkonen for Samford's first two runs of the game.

The Bulldogs took the lead with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Ervin singled up the middle with one out to start the rally. Ervin later scored when Stephen Ballard reached base on a fielder's choice to give Samford a 3-2 lead.

UNC Greensboro then answered with three runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 5-3 lead. Kris Richards tripled down the right field line to drive in Thomas Troelstrup to tie the score at 3-3. Eric Brindle then singled to drive in Richards to give the Spartans the lead for good. Martin later doubled to drive in Brindle for the game's final run.

Samford threatened to score in the bottom of the ninth inning. With one out in the inning, Irby walked. Filliben then singled to left field and Irby moved to second base. Michael Johnson then reached base on a fielder's choice, with Irby being thrown out at third base for the second out of the inning. Moss then reached base on a bunt single to load the bases. Butler then hit a grounder to UNCG third baseman Richards whose throw just beat Butler to first base to end the game.

Samford will return to action with a game at Auburn on Tuesday, April 26. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start from Plainsman Park.