April 28, 2012

Box Score

DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Samford baseball team earned a 5-3 Southern Conference win in the second game of a three-game series at Davidson on Saturday. With the win, the Bulldogs secure the series win over the Wildcats.

Samford improves to 28-16 overall and 15-8 in Southern Conference play. Davidson drops to 16-24 overall and 7-16 in league play.

Samford second baseman Zeth Stone went 4-for-5 with a double and an RBI. First baseman Saxon Butler hit his ninth home run of the season, going 2-for-5 with three RBI. Center fielder Phillip Ervin went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the win for the Bulldogs.

Josh Martin (8-1) pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on five hits and striking out seven batters to earn the win. With the win, Martin becomes the first Samford pitcher to win 20 career games. Lex Rutledge came in to pitch the final 2.2 innings, giving up just one hit, striking out five batters and allowing no walks to earn his second save of the season.

For Davidson, Jake Berman went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and two RBI. Forrest Brandt went 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI, while Drew Gadaire went 2-for-3 for the Wildcats. Ryan Overcash (3-7) pitched 8.2 innings, giving up five runs on 12 hits to take the loss on the mound for the Wildcats.

Samford jumped on top early with two runs in the top of the first inning. After back-to-back singled by Stone and Brad Moss, Stone scored on a single up the middle by Butler for the game's first run. Ervin then singled down the left-field line to drive in Moss for a 2-0 Samford lead.

Davidson answered with a run of its own in the bottom of the first inning to cut the Samford lead to 2-1. Berman doubled to lead off the inning. Brandt then doubled to drive in Berman for Davidson's first run of the game.

The Wildcats added two more runs in the second inning to take a 3-2 lead. With one out in the inning, Seth Freeman walked. With two outs in the inning, Berman homered to left field to give Davidson a one-run lead.

Samford came back with two runs in the top of the fifth inning to take the lead again at 4-3. Stone singled to lead off the inning. With one out in the inning, Butler hit a home run to right field to give the Bulldogs the lead for good.

The Bulldogs plated one final run in the top of the ninth inning to make the final score 5-3. With two outs in the inning, Austin Allison singled up the middle. Stone then doubled to right field to drive in Allison for the game's final run.

The teams will conclude their three-game 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.