Samford 8, Memphis 4
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Samford sophomore second baseman Hunter Swilling hit for the cycle, going 4-for-5 with a double, a triple, a home run and five RBIs to lead the Bulldog baseball team to an 8-4 win at Memphis on Monday afternoon at FedEx Park.
Game two of the scheduled doubleheader was canceled due to rain. The teams were only able to play one game of an originally scheduled weekend three-game schedule due to inclement weather.
Swilling becomes the first Samford player to hit for the cycle since May 8, 2004, when Trey Moody performed the feat in a win at Tennessee Tech.
Behind Swilling for Samford, Danny Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI. Richard Greene also went 2-for-4 for the Bulldogs.
Alex Ledford (2-2) pitched five innings, giving up two runs on three hits and striking out seven batters to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Mark Donham tossed the final four innings, surrendering two runs on four hits to pick up his first save of the season. The Samford defense played solidly behind Ledford and Donham, turning three double plays and committing no errors.
For Memphis, Kane Barrow drove in two runs in a 1-for-4 performance at the plate. Dylan Toscano (1-1) pitched four innings, giving up six runs on eight hits to take the loss on the mound for the Tigers.
Samford struck first with four runs in the top of the third inning. Greene singled up the middle to get things started. Rodriguez then doubled to right-center field to drive in Greene for the game’s first run. T.J. Dixon then reached base on an infield single, moving Rodriguez to third base. Rodriguez then scored on a wild pitch to make the score 2-0. After Alex Lee walked, Swilling tripled, driving in Dixon and Lee for a 4-0 Samford lead.
Memphis plated one run in the bottom of the third inning to cut the Samford lead to 4-1. Zach Schritenthal and Darien Tubbs started the inning with back-to-back singles. After both runners moved up one base on a sacrifice bunt, Schritenthal scored on a groundout by Barrow for Memphis’ first run of the game.
The Bulldogs added three runs in the top of the fifth inning to push their lead to 7-1. Lee was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and Swilling then homered down the left-field line for the first two runs of the inning. Damon Waller then reached base on an error, advancing to third on the play. Waller then scored on a sacrifice fly by Austin Edens for a six-run Samford lead.
Memphis scored another run in the bottom of the fifth inning to make the score 7-2. Darien Tubbs walked to lead off the inning, and then later scored from third base when Tucker Tubbs hit into a double play.
Samford added to its lead with a run in the top of the sixth inning. With two outs in the inning, Lee doubled to center field. Swilling then doubled to left field to drive in Lee to make the score 8-2.
The Tigers added two final runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to make the final score 8-4. Jake Overbey reached base on a fielder’s choice and later scored the first run of the inning on a double by Barrow. Carter White then doubled to drive in Barrow for the game’s final run.
With the win, Samford improved to 4-8 on the young season. Memphis fell to 4-4 with the loss.
Samford will play again Tuesday night at Auburn. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. CDT start from Plainsman Park.
Binghamton 13, VMI 6
LEXINGTON, Va. – Will Connerley and Thomas Stallings homered for VMI, but the Binghamton Bearcats scored in four of the first five innings en route to a 13-6 victory over the Keydets in nonconference baseball action Monday afternoon at Gray-Minor Stadium. Binghamton prevailed in the series, two games to one.
After Binghamton (3-6) scored two runs in the first inning off Brandon Barbery, Stallings homered over the scoreboard in left-center field to tie the game, 2-2. The visitors answered with five runs in the third, however, and tacked on one in the fourth, three in the fifth and two in the ninth en route to the win.
The Keydet pitchers were touched for 15 hits on the day, including nine surrendered in 3 2/3 innings of work by Barbery, who suffered the loss to drop to 1-1 on the year. The VMI defense also struggled, committing four errors on the afternoon.
Anthony Grillini (1-0) picked up the victory in relief for the Bearcats, as starter Jake Wloczewski was knocked out in the fourth after allowing four runs, all earned, on six hits. One day after committing four errors in a 15-4 VMI win, Binghamton had only one Monday.
With the score tied at 2, Binghamton opened the game up in the third against Barbery. A two-run double by Eddie Posavec, along with an RBI single by Reed Gamache and a two-run single by Brian Ruby, gave the Bearcats a 7-2 advantage.
The Keydets got a run back on a Tharp RBI single in the bottom of the inning, but Paul Rufo walked to force in a run in the fourth to push the margin back to five. Connerley homered to lead off the fourth and knocked out Wloczewski, but VMI was held to two runs the rest of the way.
The visitors, meanwhile, added three runs in the fifth, including a two-run double by Skidmore and another two in the ninth on his two-run home run that capped the scoring.
Offensively, the Keydets were led by Jordan Tarsovich, who went 3-for-4 with three doubles. Stallings, Connerley, Ray Lopez and Tharp all had two hits apiece, while Posavec went 4-for-6 and Skidmore went 3-for-4 with five RBIs for the Bearcats.
VMI baseball is scheduled to return to action Wednesday, when the Keydets host the Dukes of James Madison at Gray-Minor Stadium. Game time is set for 4 p.m.