April 30, 2011

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Samford baseball team pounded out a season-high 18 hits on its way to an 11-5 Southern Conference win over Furman in the first game of a three-game series Saturday evening at Latham Stadium.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early six-run lead with two runs in the first inning, one run in the second inning and three in the third. After Furman came back to cut the lead to 6-5, Samford plated five runs in the final two innings to pull away for the 11-5 win.

"This was a great job by our guys offensively, and an equally good job by our bullpen" Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "It was a good start for us early offensively and then we scored some bug runs late with three two-out hits in the eighth inning to really extend the lead."

Samford's Kyle Putkonen (6-2) pitched 6.1 innings, giving up five runs on 12 hits while striking out six batters to earn the win on the mound. Tyler Vanderheiden, Grant Sides and Joseph Burns tossed the final 2.2 innings to close out the win for the Bulldogs.

Samford was led at the plate by Kevin Putkonen, going 4-for-5 with a double and three RBI. Michael Johnson went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. Phillip Ervin went 3-for-5 with a triple and two RBI, while Saxon Butler went 3-for-6 with a double and two RBI, and Brad Moss went 3-for-6.

Bobby Lyne (2-4) pitched 7.0 innings, giving up six runs on 12 hits to take the loss for Furman. Will Owens went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI to lead Furman at the plate. Aaron Thompkins, Paul Nitto and Will Muzika added two hits each for the Paladins.

Samford jumped on top early with two runs in the top of the first inning. After a one-out single by Moss, Butler doubled to drive in Moss for the game's first run. Butler later scored when Putkonen reached base on a bunt single to give Samford a 2-0 lead.

The Bulldogs plated another run in the top of the second inning to push their lead to 3-0. Johnson reached base on a bunt single with one out in the inning. Johnson then moved to third base on a two-base Furman error. He then scored from third base on a Furman wild pitch for a three-run Samford lead.

Samford added three runs in the top of the third inning to make the score 6-0. After Brandon Miller walked to lead off the inning, Ervin tripled to center field to drive in Miller for the first run of the inning. Putkonen then singled to drive in Ervin for Samford's fifth run of the game. Putkonen later scored the inning's final run on a single by Johnson.

Furman got on the scoreboard with four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 6-4. J.B. Jenkins drove in two runs, and Will Miller and Owens drove in a run each in the inning for the Paladins.

The Paladins added a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the score 6-5. Muzika hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Thompkins to bring the Paladins to within one run.

Samford answered with three runs in the eighth inning and two runs in the ninth to pull away for the 11-5 win.

In the eighth inning, Tyler Filliben led the inning off with a single, moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a wild pitch. With two outs in the inning, Butler singled to center field to drive in Filliben to make the score 7-5. After Miller walked and Butler moved to second base, Ervin singled to center field to drive in Butler to give Samford an 8-5 lead. Putkonen then singled to drive in pinch-runner Matt Frederick for a 9-5 Samford lead.

C.K. Irby reached base on a Furman error to lead off the ninth inning. After a ground out by Filliben, Johnson homered to right field to give Samford the 11-5 win.

With the win, Samford improves to 26-17 overall and 13-9 in Southern Conference play. Furman falls to 19-26 overall and 9-12 in league play.

Samford and Furman will wrap up their SoCon series with a doubleheader Sunday, with the first game scheduled for 12 p.m. (CT). Both games can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. The games can also be followed online via GameTracker at the links below.

GameTracker For Sunday's Game 1

GameTracker For Sunday's Game 2