Samford 10, Western Carolina 9
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-The Samford baseball team plated eight runs in the fifth inning to overcome an early seven-run deficit on its way to a 10-9 win and a Southern Conference series sweep over Western Carolina Sunday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
Western Carolina jumped out to quick 7-0 lead with seven runs in the top of the first inning. Samford came back with a run in the third inning, eight in the fifth and one in the eighth to take a 10-7 lead. The Catamounts came back with two runs in the top of the ninth, but Samford was able to hold on for the 10-9 win.
Lex Rutledge (1-3) entered the game in the top of the second inning and pitched 4.0 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win. Rutledge allowed just two hits and struck out four batters in the win. Michael Gunter, Joseph Burns, Tyler Vanderheiden and Arthur Strauss combined to hold WCU scoreless over the next three innings, and C.K. Irby pitched final inning to earn his eighth save of the season.
"It started with an awesome effort from Lex, coming in when he did and really pitching four great innings," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "We finally took advantage of some of their mistakes in the fifth. But really, just a great job by Lex, and all of the guys until the ninth, really came in and did a great job. We put up seven zeros between two bad innings. The effort of those five guys was pretty good."
Samford was led at the plate by Christiaan Durdaller, going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Austin Allison also went 3-for-4 for the Bulldogs. Tommy Corbin went 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Brad Moss went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.
Irby, in addition to earning the save, drove in three runs with a double in a 1-for-4 performance. Zeth Stone drove in two runs, going 1-for-5 at the plate.
For Western Carolina, Ross Heffley went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Tyler White went 3-for-5 for the Catamounts, Adam Martin went 2-for-5 with an RBI and Bradley Strong was 2-for-6 with an RBI. Adam Curtis (4-1) pitched a third of an inning, giving up three runs on one hit to take the loss for Western Carolina.
After Western Carolina plated seven runs in the top of the first inning, Samford put its first run on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning. Durdaller doubled to left-center field to lead off the inning. Durdaller then moved to third base on a fly out by Allison, and scored on a ground out by Stone to cut the WCU lead to 7-1.
Samford came back to take the lead for good with eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Corbin singled to center field to start the rally. With one out in the inning, Corbin advanced to second base on a wild pitch. After Allison reached base on an infield single, Stone singled to right field to drive in Corbin to make the score 7-2. Moss then doubled to left-center field to drive in Allison. After Saxon Butler walked to load the bases, Stone scored from third base on a passed ball to cut the WCU lead to 7-4.
Phillip Ervin then walked to load the bases again. With two outs in the fifth inning, Irby doubled to right-center field to drive in Moss, Butler and Ervin to tie the score at 7-7. Corbin then singled to right field to drive in Irby for an 8-7 Samford lead. After Corbin advanced to second base on a wild pitch, Durdaller singled up the middle to drive in Corbin to make the score 9-7.
Samford added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning to push its lead to 10-7. Butler singled to left field to drive in Allison, who had singled earlier in the inning, for the eventual game-winning run.
Western Carolina plated two runs in the top of the ninth inning, but Samford was able to hold on for the 10-9 win. White singled to left field to lead off the inning. Martin then doubled down the left-field line, moving White to third base. With one out in the inning, Aaron Attaway singled through the right side of the infield to drive in White to make the score 10-8. Julian Ridings then hit a sacrifice fly to center field, driving in Martin for the game's final run.
With the win, Samford earned the series sweep over Western Carolina. Samford improves to 25-15 overall and 13-8 in Southern Conference play. Western Carolina drops to 25-15 overall and 10-8 in league games.
Samford will return to action on Tuesday when the Bulldogs play host to the Alabama Crimson Tide. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start from Joe Lee Griffin Field.
College of Charleston 6, The Citadel 5 (11 inn.)
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - College of Charleston senior Rob Harding hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning that scored Brandon Murray to give the Cougars a 6-5 win over The Citadel to sweep the weekend series.
Bradley Goodson led off the 11th inning with a double to left field, and the Bulldogs intentionally walked Murray. In the next at bat, Daniel Aldrich popped a bunt over the charging Bulldog third baseman, but Goodson had to hold at second to check the play and he was forced out at third. With one out and two on, Harding singled through the left side and Murray motored around third for the game-winning run.
College of Charleston (29-12, 17-7) has now swept four conference series and won five straight games including a win at No. 8 South Carolina. The weekend marked the first time that the Cougars have swept The Citadel (17-24, 7-11) since 2008 when the Cougars won three at Patriots Point.
Harding finished the day with a 4-for-6 mark at the plate, tying his career high of four hits that he set last year against The Citadel. The senior infielder tallied three RBIs including the game-winner while also scoring a run.
Senior Marty Gantt concluded his outstanding weekend with a 3-for-5 day at the plate with a run scored. Gantt finished the weekend hitting .692 (9-13) with three doubles, four RBI, four runs and two stolen bases.
Murray went 1-of-2 with two runs, including the game-winner, while Goodson tallied two hits with a run and an RBI.
CofC starter Matt Pegler went 5.2 innings, allowing five runs, three earned, on six hits in picking up the no-decision. Kyle Owings pitched well in relief by blanking the Bulldogs for 3.1 innings and picking up three strikeouts. David Peterson (1-1) came on in the extra innings and picked up the win.
The Citadel starter Logan Cribb lasted just four innings, allowing five runs on eight hits. T.J. Clarkson (1-4) pitched the final two innings and allowed the game-winning run for the loss.
The Cougars scored first on an RBI single from Harding in the first inning, but the Bulldogs fought back with two runs on two hits with a Cougar error in the top of the second.
Harding tied the game up in the third inning with yet another RBI single, this time scoring Murray from second base. The Cougars took the lead with a two-run fourth inning as Goodson singled to score Devon Reed and Murray hit a sacrifice fly to score Gantt.
Jimmy Holton picked up a groundout RBI in the fifth inning to put the Cougars up 5-2 and seemingly in control. However, the Bulldogs rallied to tie the game in the sixth inning with a three-RBI hit from Hughston Armstrong that unloaded the bases and tied the game at five apiece.
College of Charleston had opportunities with runners in scoring position and less than two out in the ninth, 10th and 11th innings, but it wasn't until Harding's base hit could the Cougars finally plate the winning run.
The win was the second walk-off win for CofC this season as the Cougars are now 2-1 in extra-inning games. The contest also marked the first time in the rich history of the College of Charleston-Citadel baseball series that any game has gone to extra innings.
College of Charleston will not play a mid-week game this week for the first time since February as the Cougars prepare for a crucial series at Western Carolina starting on Friday.
Georgia Southern 9, Indiana 1
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Eight runs in the final three innings and another strong pitching performance helped the Georgia Southern Baseball team avoid a sweep. The Eagles tallied just five hits in yesterday's 3-0 loss but recorded 12 hits in a 9-1 win over Indiana on Sunday.
Will Middour (Atlanta, Ga.) gave Georgia Southern (23-19) its third solid start and tied a career-high of seven innings pitched. Middour (2-2) avoided the first inning troubles that plagued the Eagles in the first three games this week and held the Hoosiers to just one unearned run on five hits.
Even without the first inning run, Indiana (18-22) struck first with a single run in the fourth inning on a fielder's choice. Michael Basil came to the plate with two runners in scoring position and drove in the run with a ground ball to the left side. Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) fielded the ball quickly and gunned down the runner coming from second base to help keep the inning to just one run.
Georgia Southern (23-19) finally broke through for their first lead of the series with a five-run seventh inning. The Eagles sent 10 batters to the plate and tallied four-straight hits to score the first two runs off of Matt Dearden. Dearden (1-5) did not record an out and gave up the first two runs in the seventh inning.
Trying to lay down a bunt, Zac Lenns (Hilton Head Island, S.C.) cracked open a 1-1 tie with a slash hit past the crashing first baseman to plate a lead off single in Stryker Brown (Dalton, Ga.).
Brent Pugh (Atlanta, Ga.) also struggled with laying down a bunt, but bounced a ball past a diving Chad Clark at third base to score a second run.
After a sacrifice fly from Phillips recorded the second out, Pugh beat out a short throw on a fielder's choice at second base and kept the inning alive for Michael Burruss (Marietta, Ga.). The junior leftfielder plated the final two runs in the inning with a single through the left side.
In the sixth inning, Burruss plated the tying run on a sacrifice fly to right field. The Eagles picked up their first run of the game after Scooter Williams (Detroit, Mich.) tallied a base hit by beating out a throw from second base and moved into scoring position after the Dustin DeMuth throw sailed wide of first base.
Chase Griffin (Leesburg, Ga.) struck for his first hit of the day in the ninth inning and drove in two runs with a single. The Eagles led off the frame with three-straight hits and scored the first of three runs on a Tyler Avera (Baxley, Ga.) single.
Georgia Southern returns to action next weekend at The Citadel. The Eagles will get a week off in the mid-week before wrapping up a seven-game road trip in Charleston.
All baseball games this season can be heard on the Boomer 103.7 FM and inside J.I. Clements Stadium on 88.1 FM. Audio for all games is also available on the web and subscription video is available for all home games at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/Eaglevision.