March 20, 2012

Box Score

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Samford baseball team fell in a hard-fought contest at the top-ranked Florida Gators, 5-3, Tuesday evening at McKethan Stadium.

Samford falls to 13-8 with the loss. Florida improves to 20-1, collecting its 18th-straight win.

Samford was led at the plate by Brad Moss, going 2-for-4 with two RBI. C.K. Irby also went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Bulldogs.

Lex Rutledge (0-2) pitched 1.1 innings, giving up three runs on three hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford. Joseph Burns, Andres Gracia, Taylor Hammond, Tyler Vanderheiden and Irby also saw time on the mound for the Bulldogs.

For Florida, Mike Zunino went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Josh Tobias went 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Preston Tucker was 2-for-4 for the Gators.

Johnny Magliozzi (2-0), pitched 4.0 innings, giving up one run on three hits and striking out six batters to earn the win on the mound. Austin Maddox pitched the final inning to earn his seventh save of the season.

Samford jumped on top first with a run in the top of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead. Zeth Stone doubled to lead off the inning. After back-to-back strikeouts, Brandon Miller singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Stone for the first run of the game.

Florida answered with a run in the bottom of the first inning to tie the score at 1-1. Daniel Pigott singled with one out to start the rally. Tucker then singled and Pigott advanced to third base. Pigott then scored on an infield single by Zunino to tie the score.

The Gators took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Tobias singled to drive in Justin Shafer for the inning's first run. Tobias later scored on a wild pitch to give Florida a 3-1 lead.

Samford came back with a run in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Florida lead to 3-2. Kevin Putkonen singled to center field to lead off the inning. Putkonen moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Austin Allison. With two outs in the inning, Putkonen stole third base. Moss then doubled to left-center field to drive in Putkonen to bring the Bulldogs to within one run.

Florida added a run in the bottom of the fifth inning to push its lead back out to two runs at 4-2. Tucker doubled to lead off the inning for Gators. Tucker later scored on a single by Taylor Gushue.

The Bulldogs added a run in the top of the seventh inning to cut the Gator lead back to one run. With two outs in the inning, Stone reached base and advanced to second on a Florida error. He then stole third base and later scored on a single by Moss to make the score 4-3.

The Gators answered with a run in the bottom of the seventh to push their lead to 5-3. With one out in the inning, Pigott was hit by a pitch. With two outs, Zunino doubled to drive in Pigott for a two-run Florida lead.

Samford will return to action on Friday, March 23, when the Bulldogs open a three-game Southern Conference series at Wofford. Friday's series-opener is scheduled for a 5 p.m. (CT) start from Spartanburg, S.C.