May 20, 2011

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford's Saxon Butler went 4-for-4 with three doubles and an RBI to lead the Bulldog baseball team to a 4-1 win over College of Charleston in the second game of a three-game series Friday evening at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

With the win, Samford improves to 33-22 overall and 17-12 in SoCon play, while Charleston falls to 36-19 overall and 18-11 in league play. Samford moves into a tie for fourth place in the league standings with Georgia Southern. Charleston stands in third place in the SoCon, one game ahead of Samford and GSU with one game remaining.

Butler's three doubles give him 25 for the season, setting a new school single-season record. Butler's total breaks the previous record of 23, set by Chad Ott in 1990. Butler's RBI gives him 58 for the season, tying the school record set by Mason Meredeth last season.

Samford got a strong pitching performance throughout Friday night's contest. Josh Martin (5-2) pitched 6.2 innings, giving up one run on five hits and striking out four batters to earn the win. Arthur Strauss pitched 1.1 innings, allowing no hits and striking out two batters. Andrew Jones pitched the final inning, sitting the Cougars down in order to earn his Samford-record 13th save of the season.

"Josh and Arthur were phenomenal and then Andrew came in and went one-two-three in the ninth," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "All three of those guys were really good tonight. Josh was ahead in the count all night. It was nice to see him continue the good stretch he's been on."

Behind Butler for Samford, Brad Moss went 2-for-3 at the plate. Brandon Miller, Phillip Ervin and Kevin Putkonen drove in a run each for the Bulldogs.

Charleston's David Peterson (5-6) pitched 4.0 innings, giving up two runs on six hits to take the loss. Rob Kral went 2-for-3 to lead the Cougars at the plate. Ryan Daniels had Charleston's lone RBI in the game.

Samford struck first with a run in the bottom of the first inning. With one out in the inning, Moss singled up the middle. After stealing second base, Moss moved to third on a double by Butler. Moss then scored when Miller grounded out to second base to give Samford a 1-0 lead.

The Bulldogs added a run in the third inning to make the score 2-0. Moss led off the inning with a single to center field. Moss then moved to third base on a single by Butler, with Butler moving to second on a Charleston error. With one out in the inning, Ervin reached base on a fielder's choice, but Moss was thrown out at home for the second out of the inning. Putkonen then singled to right field to drive in Butler for a two-run Samford lead.

The score remained 2-0 until Charleston plated a run in the top of the seventh inning to cut the Samford lead to 2-1. Cole Rakar was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. With one out in the inning, Rakar advanced to third base on a double by Jamie Holler. Pinch-hitter Daniels then hit a sacrifice fly to left field to drive in Rakar.

Samford came back with two runs in the seventh inning to make the final score 4-1. With one out in the inning, Moss was hit by a pitch. Butler then doubled to left field to drive in Moss for the first run of the inning. Butler then went to third base on a wild pitch and scored the game's final run on a ground out by Ervin.

Samford and Charleston will wrap up their three-game SoCon series with a game Saturday at 2 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field. Prior to the game, Samford's seven seniors, Stephen Ballard, Gary Cramer, Rumiko Forrester, Michael Johnson, Andrew Jones, Tripp Swann and Joshua VanFleteren, will be honored.

Saturday's game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. Fans can also follow the game online via GameTracker at the link below.

GameTracker For Saturday's Game