May 17, 2011

Box Score

TROY, Ala. - Troy's Adam Bryant hit two home runs and drove in six runs to lead the Trojan baseball team to a 14-1 win over Samford in a non-conference game Tuesday evening at Riddle-Pace Field.

With the loss, Samford drops to 32-21. Troy improves to 38-15 and the teams split the season series as the Bulldogs defeated the Trojans, 6-1, in Birmingham on March 1. Samford is now 9-3 on the season against in-state opponents.

Samford pitcher Lex Rutledge (5-5) pitched 1.2 innings, giving up five runs, just one earned, on three hits to take the loss for the Bulldogs. Michael Gunter, Joshua VanFleteren, Gil Walker and Rumiko Forrester also saw time on the mound for Samford.

For Samford at the plate, Brandon Miller was 1-for-3 with a solo home run to account for Samford's lone run of the game. Miller's home run was his 16th of the season, just one shy of the school single-season record of 17 set by Jim Morgan in 1997.

As a team, Samford committed four errors in the loss. The 14 runs allowed are the most the Bulldogs have allowed this season.

Troy's William Teal (4-0) pitched 4.0 innings, giving up one run on four hits to earn the win.

In addition to Bryant's performance at the plate for Troy, Tyler Hannah went 3-for-4 with a home run, two doubles and two RBI. T.J. Rivera went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI. As a team, Troy had 10 extra-base hits in the game.

Troy jumped on top first with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. With one out in the inning, Hannah reached base on a Samford error. Bryant then tripled to drive in Hannah for the game's first run. Blake Martz later doubled to drive in Bryant for a 2-0 Troy lead. Todd McRae then grounded out to drive in Rivera, who had been hit by a pitch earlier in the inning, to make the score 3-0.

The Trojans added two more runs in the bottom of the second inning to push their lead to 5-0. Two Samford errors in the inning aided the Trojans' cause. The two runs came on a two-out, two-run homer by Hannah.

Samford put its lone run on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning. With one out in the inning, Miller hit a solo home run to left field to cut the Troy lead to 5-1.

Troy plated three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to make the score 8-1. Rivera singled to drive in Tyson Workman and Hannah, and Bryant scored on another Samford error to give Troy a seven-run lead.

The Trojans put three more runs up in the sixth inning. Bryant hit a three-run homer to left field to give Troy an 11-1 lead.

Troy then added three more runs in the eighth inning two make the score 14-1. The first two runs were scored on a two-run homer by Bryant. Hayden Hillyer later singled to drive in the game's final run.

Samford will return to action on Thursday, April 19, when the Bulldogs play host to the College of Charleston in the first game of a three-game Southern Conference series. The teams will play Thursday at 6 p.m., Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.