April 13, 2012

Box Score

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The Samford baseball team dropped the first game of its three-game Southern Conference series at College of Charleston, 7-3, Friday night at Patriots Point.

With the loss, Samford drops to 20-14 overall and 9-7 in the Southern Conference. College of Charleston improves to 24-11 overall and 13-6 in SoCon play.

Samford was led at the plate by C.K. Irby, going 2-for-3 with a triple and an RBI. Brad Moss went 2-for-4. Tommy Corbin and Saxon Butler drove in one run each in the loss.

Charles Basford (5-1) pitched 5.2 innings, giving up six runs, four earned, on nine hits in taking the loss on the mound for Samford. Taylor Hammond, Michael Gunter and Lex Rutledge also saw time on the mound for the Bulldogs.

For College of Charleston, Bradley Goodson went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI to lead the way at the plate. Daniel Aldrich and Gunnar Heidt went 2-for-4 each for the Cougars. Josh Renfro (5-3) earned the win on the mound, tossing 5.0 innings and allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits.

Samford jumped on top first with two runs in the top of the second inning. Phillip Ervin was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Irby then tripled to left-center field to drive in Ervin for the first run of the game. Corbin then singled up the middle to drive in Irby for a 2-0 Samford lead.

College of Charleston came back to tie the game with two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Aldrich reached base on a Samford error to lead off the inning. Rob Harding then doubled to drive in Aldrich to cut the Samford lead to 2-1. After two-straight outs, Heidt reached base on another Samford error, allowing Aldrich to score to tie the game at 2-2.

The Cougars took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Goodson singled to drive in Aldrich for the first run of the inning. Marty Gantt later walked with the bases loaded to score Brandon Glazer for a 4-2 Charleston lead.

Samford came back with one run in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Charleston lead to 4-3. With one out in the inning, Zeth Stone reached base on a Charleston error. Stone later scored on a single by Butler to pull Samford to within one run.

College of Charleston added a run in the bottom of the fifth inning to push its lead to 5-3. Aldrich doubled with one out and later scored on a single by Goodson to give the Cougars a two-run lead.

Charleston plated another run in the bottom of the sixth inning to make the score 6-3. Gantt reached base on a two-out walk. Tyler Jackson then doubled to drive in Gantt for Charleston's sixth run of the game.

The Cougars added one final run in the bottom of the eighth inning to make the final score 7-3. Pinch-hitter Cody Martin singled to lead off the inning and later scored on a Samford error to give Charleston a four-run lead.

The teams will resume their three-game SoCon series with a game Saturday at 2 p.m. (CT). The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. Fans can also follow the game online via GameTracker at www.samfordsports.com.