BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Over the last several weeks, we at SamfordSports.com have been taking a look back at some of the biggest wins by Samford teams throughout the years in a series sponsored by America's First Federal Credit Union. Today, we will continue the series by looking at one of the biggest regular-season wins for the Samford baseball program.
On May 15, 2012, the Samford baseball team earned a 12-7 win over the third-ranked Florida Gators in an impressive performance at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The third-ranked Gators are the highest-ranked Division I team Samford has ever defeated.
The game was the final home game for Samford's 12 seniors on the 2012 roster, and several of the seniors came up big in the Bulldogs' win. Brandon Miller went 2-for-4 with two homers and four RBI. Saxon Butler went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Senior pitchers Joseph Burns and Tyler Vanderheiden turned in strong performances pitching in relief.
In addition to the seniors' performances, C.K. Irby went 2-for-5 with a triple and three RBI. Irby (4-1), who also was Samford's starting pitcher in the contest, tossed 5.0 innings, allowing just one run on one hit to earn the win. Tyler Filliben went 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Tommy Corbin also went 2-for-5 at the plate for Samford.
For Florida at the plate, Daniel Pigott went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Preston Tucker went 2-for-3 for the Gators. Mike Zunino hit a home run and drove in three runs in a 1-for-4 performance. Johnny Magliozzi (4-3) pitched 1.2 innings, giving up five runs on seven hits to take the loss on the mound for Florida.
Samford scored three runs in the first inning, two runs in the second inning and two more in the fourth inning to take a 7-0 lead. In the first inning, Irby hit a triple to center field with the bases loaded, driving in Miller, Phillip Ervin and Brad Moss. In the second inning, Zeth Stone hit his first home run of the season with Filliben on base for a 5-0 Samford lead.
In the fourth inning, Miller hit his first home run of the night with Butler on base for a seven-run Samford lead.
Florida put its first run on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Samford lead to 7-1. Jeff Moyer doubled to lead off the inning and later scored on a ground out by Taylor Gushue.
Samford answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 8-1. Filliben singled to center field to drive in Christiaan Durdaller for a seven-run Samford lead.
The Gators added a run in the top of the sixth inning when Tucker scored on a sacrifice fly by Justin Shafer. Samford came back with two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 10-2. Miller homered for the second time, this time with Ervin on base, for an eight-run Samford lead.
Florida cut the lead to 10-5 in the seventh inning when Zunino homered to left field with Tucker and Nolan Fontana on base. Samford added two more in the bottom of the seventh inning. Butler singled to center field to drive in Filliben and Corbin to push Samford's lead to 12-5.
The Gators added two final runs in the top of the ninth inning to make the final score 12-7. Brian Johnson and Pigott drove in a run each in the ninth inning for Florida.
Samford went on to win the Southern Conference Tournament and earn the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament bid, defeating SEC champion Mississippi State twice in the Tallahassee Regional.
