Feb. 22, 2012

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Samford right fielder Brandon Miller homered twice and drove in three runs to lead the Bulldog baseball team to a 12-4 win at in-state rival Jacksonville State Wednesday afternoon at Rudy Abbott Field.

With the win, Samford improves to 4-1 on the season. Jacksonville State drops to 0-2 with the loss. The win marked the first time Samford has won at Jacksonville State since 2008.

Miller went 3-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI to lead the Bulldogs at the plate. The two homers brings Miller's season total to six through the first five games of the season.

Center fielder Phillip Ervin also hit a home run, going 1-for-5 with three RBI. Zeth Stone went 2-for-4, while Austin Allison drove in three runs in a 1-for-4 performance at the plate.

Samford starting pitcher C.K. Irby (2-0) pitched 3.0 innings, giving up one run on two hits and striking out two batters, to earn the win on the mound. Relievers Gil Walker, Taylor Hammond, Tyler Vanderheiden, Arthur Strauss and Lex Rutledge also saw time on the mound for the Bulldogs.

For Jacksonville State, Jay Davis went 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI. Erik Underwood also went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Daniel Watts (0-1) took the loss for JSU, tossing 3.1 innings, allowing five runs on four hits.

Jacksonville State jumped on top first with a run in the bottom of the second inning. Davis homered to left field to give the Gamecocks a 1-0 lead.

Samford took control of the game with nine runs in the top of the fourth inning. Christiaan Durdaller singled to drive in Miller for the game-tying run. Samford took the lead when Brandon Powell scored on a sacrifice bunt by Tommy Corbin. Allison then doubled to drive in Brad Moss, Corbin and Durdaller for a 5-1 Samford lead.

Ervin later homered to left field with Allison and Stone on base to make the score 8-1. The inning's final run was scored when Miller homered to left field to give Samford a 9-1 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Jacksonville State plated a run to cut Samford's lead to 9-2. Scott Underwood scored when Michael Bishop reached base on a Samford error for the Gamecocks' second run of the game.

Samford added three runs in the top of the sixth inning to push its lead to 12-2. Saxon Butler singled to left field to drive in Stone for the inning's first run. Miller then hit his second home run of the game, with Butler on base, for a 10-run Samford lead.

The Gamecocks added two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the final score 12-4. Andre Bishop singled to drive in Michael Bishop for the first run of the inning. Erik Underwood later singled to drive in Andre Bishop to cut the Samford lead to eight runs.

Samford will return to action on Friday, Feb. 24, when the Bulldogs open a three-game series at South Alabama. Friday's series opener is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start from Mobile, Ala.