May 25, 2011

Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The third-seeded Samford baseball team overcame an early three-run deficit, to defeat sixth-seeded Appalachian State, 5-3, in the first round of the Southern Conference Baseball Tournament Wednesday afternoon at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

Samford pitcher Kyle Putkonen (7-2) overcame a slow start to pitch 5.2 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits to earn the win. Andrew Jones pitched the final 1.2 innings, earning his Samford-record 14th save of the season.

"This was a great win in so many ways," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "We had some big moments and some big hits, but the story of the game was Kyle pitching into the sixth inning after having about as bad of a first inning as he has probably ever had in his life. He settled down and battled and competed, and he probably showed more from a competitive nature and a will to be successful than he ever has."

Samford advances to take on seventh-seeded Furman, who upset second-seeded UNC Greensboro, 12-6, in the tournament's first game Wednesday morning. Samford improves to 35-22 with the win, setting a new school record for wins in a season. Appalachian State drops to 31-26 with the loss. ASU will take on UNC Greensboro Thursday at 8 a.m. (CT) in an elimination game.

Phillip Ervin led Samford at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBI. Saxon Butler drove in two runs with a double in a 1-for-2 performance. The two RBI give Butler a Samford-record 60 for the season. Tommy Corbin was 2-for-4 at the plate for the Bulldogs.

Appalachian State's Ryan Arrowood (8-3) pitched 6.2 innings, giving up four runs, just three earned, on eight hits to take the loss. Daniel Kassouf went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Tyler Zupcic went 2-for-4 for the Mountaineers.

Appalachian State plated all three of its runs in the top of the first inning. Kassouf doubled to drive in Zupcic and Trey Holmes for the first two runs of the game. Preston Troutman later singled to drive Kassouf for a 3-0 ASU lead.

Samford came back with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Ervin singled to drive in Michael Johnson, who had walked to lead off the inning, to cut the ASU lead to 3-1.

The Bulldogs took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Butler doubled, his Samford-record 26th double of the season, to drive in Tyler Filliben and Brad Moss to tie the score at 3-3. Ervin later singled to drive in Butler to give Samford a 4-3 lead.

Samford added another run in the bottom of the eighth inning to make the final score 5-3. Kevin Putkonen singled to lead off the inning and later scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Filliben for the game's final run.

Thursday's game against Furman is scheduled for a 4 p.m. (CT) start. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. Fans can also follow the game online via GameTracker at www.samfordsports.com.