April 14, 2012

Box Score

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The Samford baseball team evened its Southern Conference series at College of Charleston with a 5-3 win Saturday afternoon at Patriots Point Park.

With the win, Samford improves to 21-14 overall and 10-7 in SoCon play. College of Charleston drops to 24-12 overall and 13-7 in league games.

Samford was led at the plate by Christiaan Durdaller, going 2-for-3 with a home run, a double and three RBI. Brandon Miller went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Saxon Butler also homered in a 1-for-3 performance.

Joseph Burns (2-0) pitched 1.2 innings in relief without allowing a hit to earn the win on the mound for Samford. C.K. Irby picked up his sixth save of the season, tossing the final 2.0 innings, allowing just one hit. Josh Martin started the game on the mound for the Bulldogs, pitching 5.1 innings, allowing just three runs on eight hits.

"I thought our pitchers really battled and competed," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "Josh left the game with the lead. I know he was frustrated to not go deeper than he did, but at the end of the day he came out in the sixth inning and we still had the lead, so I thought that was a quality outing for him. Joe Burns did his job and C.K. was really good to finish the game."

For College of Charleston, Daniel Aldrich went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Brandon Murray and Bradley Goodson contributed two hits each for the Cougars. Christian Powell (6-2) pitched 6.2 innings, allowing four runs on six hits to take the loss on the mound. Powell struck out 10 batters and allowed just one walk.

College of Charleston jumped on top first with a run in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs in the inning, Murray tripled to center field. Aldrich then doubled to drive in Murray for a 1-0 Cougar lead.

Samford evened the score with a run in the top of the third inning. Durdaller led the inning off with a solo home run to left field to tie the score at 1-1. The homer was Durdaller's second of the season.

The Bulldogs took the lead with one run in the top of the fourth inning. With one out in the inning, Butler walked to start the rally. Miller then doubled to left-center field to drive in Butler for a 2-1 Samford lead.

The Cougars tied the score with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Aldrich singled up the middle to drive in Marty Gantt to tie the score at 2-2.

Samford took the lead again with a run in the top of the sixth inning. With two outs in the inning, Butler hit a solo home run, his seventh of the season, to center field to give Samford a 3-2 lead.

The Cougars tied the score with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Goodson singled up the middle to lead off the inning. With one out in the inning, Gunnar Heidt doubled, moving Goodson to third base. Pinch-hitter Dre Watts then hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Goodson to even the score at 3-3. Heidt also came home from second base on the play, but he was called out for not tagging up at second, ending the inning with the score tied.

Samford took the lead for good with a run in the top of the seventh inning. Irby singled to lead off the inning and then stole second base and moved to third base on a wild pitch. With one out in the inning, Irby scored on a sacrifice fly by Durdaller to give Samford a 4-3 lead.

The Bulldogs plated one final run in the top of the ninth inning to make the final score 5-3. Miller was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and then moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Irby. After Tommy Corbin was hit by a pitch, Durdaller doubled to left field to drive in Miller for the game's final run.

The teams will conclude their three-game SoCon series with a game Sunday at 12 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.