Feb. 25, 2012

Box Score

MOBILE, Ala. - The Samford baseball team held off a late rally to earn a 9-8 win at South Alabama Saturday afternoon at Stanky Field.

Samford improves to 5-2 with the win. South Alabama falls to 2-4 with the setback.

Samford was led at the plate by Kevin Putkonen, going 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Saxon Butler and Brandon Miller each went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Phillip Ervin and Austin Allison drove in two runs each, both going 1-for-4 at the plate.

The Bulldogs' Charles Basford (1-0) earned the win on the mound. Basford tossed 6.2 innings, giving up five runs on eight hits and striking out four batters. Arthur Strauss pitched the final inning to earn his first save of the season. C.K. Irby and Lex Rutledge also saw time on the mound for Samford.

For South Alabama at the plate, Nick Zaharion went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Drew Cofield drove in three runs in a 1-for-5 performance for the Jaguars. Payton Gardner (0-1) took the loss on the mound for USA, pitching 3.0 innings, giving up seven runs, only four earned, on eight hits.

Samford struck first with a run in the top of the first inning. With one out in the inning, Ervin was hit by a pitch and Butler singled. Miller then singled to left field to drive in Ervin for a 1-0 Samford lead.

South Alabama came back with five runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 5-1 lead. Cofield and Jordan Patterson drove in two runs in the inning each. Zaharion added another RBI to give the Jaguars a four-run lead.

Samford answered with six runs in the top of the third inning to take the lead for good. Allison and Ervin both had two-RBI doubles in the inning. Putkonen and Brandon Powell also drove in a run each in the inning, as Samford took a 7-5 lead.

The Bulldogs added two runs in the top of the sixth inning to push their lead to 9-5. Miller scored the first run in the inning when Butler hit a sacrifice fly to left field. Putkonen later doubled down the right-field line to drive in Miller for a four-run Samford lead.

The score remained 9-5 until the bottom of the ninth inning. Zaharion, Colin Bray and Cofield drove in a run each to pull the Jaguars to within one run at 9-8 with two outs. Strauss, however, was able to get Patterson to ground out with a runner on first base, to preserve the win for the Bulldogs.

The same two teams will conclude the series with a game Sunday at 1 p.m. Fans can follow the game online via Live Stats at the following link: Live Stats