April 21, 2012

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--Samford senior pitcher Josh Martin struck out a career-high 13 batters and became Samford's all-time leader in career wins in leading the Bulldog baseball team to a 4-2 win over Western Carolina in Southern Conference action Saturday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Martin's 13 strikeouts surpass his previous career high of 10 set against Penn State on March 5th of this year. The win was Martin's 19th of his career, breaking the previous record of 18 set by Glen Criswell from 1994 to 1997.

Brandon Miller led Samford at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two home runs and two RBI. With the two home runs, Miller now has 16 on the season, just one away from tying the single-season school record of 17 hit by Jim Morgan in 1997. With his 16 homers, Miller leads the Southern Conference, and he is among the leaders in the nation.

"This was a heck of a battle," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "Obviously, I thought they played well, and I thought we swung the bats a lot better than the hit-count showed. We played really well defensively, and it was just a good night all around, obviously carried by what Josh did out there on the mound."

In earning the win, Martin (7-1) pitched 8.2 innings, giving up just two runs on 10 hits. C.K. Irby came on to get the final out and earn his team-leading seventh save of the season.

"Josh had some big strikeouts in some key situations," Dunn said. "He had double-digit strikeouts against the team that does the best job in our league with two strikes, and I think that says a lot about the kind of stuff he had today."

Irby, in addition to earning the save, went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and an RBI as the team's designated hitter. Christiaan Durdaller went 2-for-3 for the Bulldogs in the win.

For Western Carolina at the plate, Bradley Strong went 2-for-4 with a home run and one RBI. Cody Jones, Ross Heffley and Adam Martin had two hits each for the Catamounts. Morgan McKinney (5-2) pitched 6.0 innings, giving up three runs on five hits to take the loss on the mound for WCU.

The game was scoreless until the top of the fifth inning when Western Carolina plated two runs to take a 2-0 lead. Strong led the inning off with a solo home run to center field for the game's first run. With one out in the inning, Jones walked. Heffley then reached base on an infield single and Jones moved to second base. Tyler White then doubled to down the left-field line to drive in Jones for a two-run Catamount lead.

Samford came back with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut the WCU lead to 2-1. With one out in the inning, Austin Allison was hit by a pitch. Zeth Stone then reached base on an error and Allison moved to second base. Brad Moss then singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Allison to pull Samford to within one run.

The Bulldogs took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Miller and Irby led the inning off with back-to-back homers to left field to give Samford a 3-2 lead.

The final run of the game was scored by Samford in the bottom of the eighth inning when Miller homered for the second time in the game, this one also a solo shot to left field.

Saturday's win, paired with the Bulldogs' win in Friday night's series opener clinched the series win for Samford. The Bulldogs improve to 24-15 overall and 12-8 in SoCon play, while Western Carolina drops to 25-14 overall and 10-7 in league play.

The teams will conclude their three-game series with a game Sunday at 1 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The game can be heard locally at WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. The game can also be viewed online on the Bulldog Big Screen at www.samfordsports.com. Fans can also follow the game online via GameTracker at www.samfordsports.com.