Feb. 21, 2012

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team hit five home runs, and three Bulldog pitchers combined to allow just one hit in a 19-0, seven-inning win over Alabama A&M Tuesday evening at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Samford starting pitcher Cole Limbaugh (1-0) earned his first collegiate win on the mound, pitching 3.0 innings, giving up one hit, striking out six batters and allowing just one walk. Charles Terry tossed 3.0 innings, while Sean Handlan pitched the final inning of the contest.

"It was a good night," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "I thought the best thing about it was that Cole was able to throw three innings and Charles was able to throw three innings, because those two guys needed some work. Unfortunately, Sean was only able to get the one inning in. It would have been nice to get him another inning or two. But it was good to get those three guys some work, since they hadn't really seen the mound yet."

The 19 runs were the most a Samford team has scored since defeating College of Charleston, 20-13, on Mar. 12, 2010. The 19-run win marked the largest margin of victory by a Samford team in the Casey Dunn era (since 2005).

"Obviously, we swung the bats well," Dunn said. "We showed some power and had some guys get their numbers up a little bit, so it was a good night."

Samford was led at the plate by Brandon Powell, going 3-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI. Brandon Miller went 2-for-4 with two home runs and two RBI. C.K. Irby went 1-for-2 with a grand slam and four RBI. Saxon Butler was also 2-for-4 with two RBI. Kevin Putkonen went 2-for-3 at the plate, while Austin Allison was 3-for-4 with two RBI.

For Alabama A&M, Joshua Blocker (0-1) pitched two-thirds of an inning, allowing seven runs on five hits to take the loss. Brandyn Crutcher had Alabama A&M's lone hit of the night, going 1-for-3 at the plate.

Samford plated seven runs in the first inning to take control of the game early. Butler, Powell, Christiaan Durdaller, Tyler Filliben, Allison and Phillip Ervin drove in a run each in the inning as Samford built the early 7-0 lead.

Samford added another run in the second inning when Miller led the inning off with his first home run of the game. In the fourth inning, Samford plated three more runs to make the score 11-0. Powell hit a three-run homer to left field, his first of the season.

In the fifth inning, Samford added seven more runs to make the score 18-0. Irby did the majority of the damage in the inning with his grand slam. Powell also hit his second homer of the game in the inning. Butler and Allison also drove in the runs in the fifth inning for Samford.

Samford put the game's final run on the scoreboard in the sixth inning. Miller hit his second home run of the game and his fourth of the season to make the final score 19-0.

Samford will return to action on Wednesday, when the Bulldogs play at Jacksonville State. The game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start from JSU's Rudy Abbott Field. Fans can follow Wednesday's game online via Live Stats at the link below:

LiveStats For Wednesday's Game