GREENVILLE, S.C.—The fourth-seeded Samford baseball team advanced to the Southern Conference Tournament championship game for the second-straight season with a 12-2 win over eighth-seeded Furman Saturday afternoon at Fluor Field.
 
Samford's win sets up a rematch of last year's championship game with sixth-seeded Georgia Southern. Last season, the Eagles defeated the Bulldogs, 1-0 in the title game. The two teams will meet for the 2012 tournament championship Sunday at 1 p.m. (CT).
 
The win improves Samford's single-season record to 38-21. The Bulldogs' 38 wins set a new school record. Furman ends its season with a record of 28-30.
 
Samford senior pitcher Kyle Putkonen (3-5) pitched his first complete game of the season and the second of his career in earning the win. Putkonen pitched 9.0 innings, giving up two runs on nine hits and striking out five batters in earning the win.
 
“Kyle was phenomenal today,” Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. “He has been in too many games and in too many big situations to not come through when his team needed him. As tough of a year as this has been for him, this was an awesome time for him to get going.”
 
Samford was led at the plate by sophomore center fielder Phillip Ervin, going 3-for-4 with a grand slam and four RBI. The homer was his 10^th of the season and his second grand slam of the year.
 
Austin Allison went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Zeth Stone went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Brandon Miller went 2-for-3 with a double.
 
Furman's Ben Carlson (1-6) pitched 3.1 innings, giving up six runs on six hits to take the loss for the Paladins. Paul Nitto led Furman at the plate, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Taylor Johnson went 2-for-3 for the Paladins.
 
Samford jumped on top first with four runs in the bottom of the second inning. Miller walked and later scored when Christiaan Durdaller reached base on a Furman error for the first run of the game. Allison then singled to drive in C.K. Irby, and Durdaller scored on another Furman error for a 3-0 Samford lead. Stone later singled to drive in Allison to make the score 4-0.
 
The Bulldogs plated five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a nine-run lead. The first run of the inning scored when Allison came home on a ground out by Brad Moss. After Saxon Butler walked to load the bases again, Ervin hit a grand slam over the wall in left field for a 9-0 Samford lead.
 
“That was a big one,” Dunn said of Ervin's grand slam. “They are a scary offensive club and they can string to together big innings pretty quickly. So, to go from a five-run game to a nine-run game was big, and to do it with two outs was a big blow.”
 
Furman plated a run in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Samford lead to 9-1. Nitto singled to center field to drive in Will Owens for the Paladins' first run of the contest.
 
Samford answered with another run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Moss singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Allison to give Samford a 10-1 lead.
 
The Paladins put their second run on the board in the top of the sixth inning. Johnson led the inning off with a double and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Hunter Burton to make the score 10-2.
 
The Bulldogs scored two final runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to make the final score 12-2. Ervin walked to lead off the inning and later scored from third base on a wild pitch. Allison later singled to left field to drive in Durdaller for the game's final run.
 
Sunday's championship game against Georgia Southern, which is scheduled for a 1 p.m. (CT) start, can be seen live on ESPN3.com. The game can be heard in the Birmingham area on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. Fans can also follow the game live via GameTracker at www.samfordsports.com.