May 6, 2012

Box Score

STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern baseball team plated a run in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie on its way to a 3-2 win over Samford in the final game of a three-game Southern Conference series Sunday afternoon at J.I. Clements Stadium.

Samford wins the series, two games to one, with all three games ending as one-run contests. Samford took the first two games of the series by scores of 5-4 and 6-5. Samford drops to 32-17 overall and 18-9 in SoCon play, while GSU improves to 26-23 overall and 12-12 in league play. The loss snaps an eight-game conference win streak for the Bulldogs.

Samford was led at the plate by Brad Moss and Phillip Ervin, both going 2-for-4. Zeth Stone and Brandon Miller drove in a run each, both going 1-for-4 at the plate. Michael Gunter (1-2), who pitched 2.0 innings in relief of starting pitcher Kyle Putkonen, took the loss for Samford, allowing one run on one hit.

For Georgia Southern, Eric Phillips went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI, including droving in the game-winning run in the eighth inning. Chase Griffin went 2-for-3 for the Eagles. T.D. Davis drove in a run in a 1-for-2 performance. Kyle Rowe (6-1) pitched the final 2.0 innings, giving up no runs on two hits to earn the win for the Eagles.

Georgia Southern got on the scoreboard first with a run in the bottom of the second inning. Griffin led the inning off with a single. Griffin later scored on a single by Davis for a 1-0 lead for the Eagles.

The Eagles added a run in the third inning to push their lead to 2-0. Scooter Williams and Michael Burruss both reached base on Samford errors. Williams then scored on a single by Phillips for a two-run GSU lead.

Samford plated a run in the fourth inning to cut the GSU lead to 2-1. With two outs in the inning, Ervin doubled down the left-field line. Miller then singled to right field to drive in Ervin for Samford's first run of the game.

The Bulldogs tied the game with a run in the top of the fifth inning. With two outs in the inning, Austin Allison doubled to left-center field. Stone then singled to right field to drive in Allison to make the score 2-2.

The score remained tied until the bottom of the eighth inning when GSU plated a run to take a 3-2 lead. Burruss walked to lead off the inning. Phillips then doubled down the left-field line to drive in Burruss for the eventual game-winning run.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Rowe was able to sit the Bulldogs down in order to preserve the win for the Eagles.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, May 12, when the Bulldogs open a three-game Southern Conference series at home against Appalachian State. The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. and a single game Sunday at 1 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.