April 27, 2012

Box Score

DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Samford baseball team plated 16 runs on 13 hits on its way to a 16-6 win over Davidson in the first game of a three-game Southern Conference series Friday night at Wilson Field.

With the win, Samford improves to 27-16 overall and 14-8 in Southern Conference play. Davidson drops to 16-23 overall and 7-15 in league play.

Samford was led at the plate by Phillip Ervin, going 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Tommy Corbin went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Saxon Butler went 2-for-4 with two RBI, while Zeth Stone was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.

Charles Basford (7-1) pitched 5.1 innings, giving up five runs in seven hits to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Tyler Vanderheiden, Michael Gunter and Gil Walker also saw time on the mound for Samford.

For Davidson at the plate, Jake Berman went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI, while Drew Gadaire went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Henry Sisson (3-2) pitched 6.0 innings, allowing seven runs on six hits to take the loss for the Wildcats.

Samford jumped on top early with four runs in the top of the first inning. Stone walked and Brad Moss singled to start the inning. Stone then moved to third base and Moss to second on a ground out by Butler. Stone scored the first run of the game when Ervin reached base on an error.

With two outs in the first inning, Moss scored when C.K. Irby reached base on another Davidson error. Corbin then singled to drive in Ervin to make the score 3-0. Christiaan Durdaller then singled to drive in Irby for a 4-0 Samford lead.

The Bulldogs plated two more runs in the top of the second inning to make the score 6-0. With one out, Stone was hit by a pitch and then moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Moss. Stone then scored on a single by Butler for the first run of the second inning. Ervin then doubled to drive in Butler for a six-run Samford lead.

Davidson got on the scoreboard with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Berman doubled to drive in Daniel Gerow for the Wildcats' first run of the game. Gadaire later doubled to drive in Berman and Calvin Sigelbaum to cut the Samford lead to 6-3.

The Wildcats added two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the Samford lead to 6-5. Michael Zeblo and Ryan Lowe both scored on bases-loaded walks to bring Davidson to within one run.

Samford came back with two runs in the top of the seventh inning to push its lead to 8-5. Stone singled to lead off the inning and later scored the inning's first run on a wild pitch. Butler scored the second run of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Brandon Miller.

The Bulldogs took control of the game with six runs in the top of the eighth inning to make the score 14-5. Butler, Irby and Corbin drove in a run each in the inning. Moss scored on a passed ball, and Corbin and Matt Frederick both scored on an error for Samford in the eighth inning.

Davidson added a run in the bottom of the eighth inning to cut the Samford lead to 14-6. With two outs in the inning, Sigelbaum was hit by a pitch. Berman then singled, moving Sigelbaum to second base. Forrest Brandt then singled to drive in Sigelbaum for Davidson's final run of the game.

Samford plated two final runs in the top of the ninth inning to make the final score 16-6. Allison singled to lead off the inning and then scored on a double by Stone. The game's final run was scored when Ervin singled to drive in Stone for a 10-run Samford lead.

The same two teams will resume their three-game series with a game Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT). Fans can follow the game online via GameTracker at www.samfordsports.com.