May 16, 2010

Box Score

Birmingham, Ala. - Samford's Wayne Miller recorded three RBI on a 4-for-5 outing at the plate as the Bulldogs took the series from Western Carolina with a rain-delayed, 8-5, victory over the Catamounts Sunday afternoon at J.L. Griffin Field.

Rain twice delayed Sunday's rubber match including pushing the start of the game back 15 minutes with a three and a half hour delay in the bottom of the seventh inning prolonging the game.

WCU dropped to 31-18-1 overall, 13-13-1 in the Southern Conference while Samford improved to 29-21 and 16-10 in league games.

Junior Matt Johns finished 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles to give him a team-leading 16 two-baggers on the year while classmate Austin Schultz finished 2-for-3 with a walk and a couple of runs scored. Tyler Kirkpatrick drove in two runs including a sacrifice fly and his 13th home run of the season to tie him for the team lead while Dylan de Graaf also belted a home run for the Catamounts.

Freshman T.J. Page (1-1) took the loss for the Catamounts after allowing five runs, four of which were earned, on four hits with one walk. He gave way to Kyle Stewart in the third with the sophomore tossing four innings in relief, holding the Bulldogs to two runs, only one of which was earned. The Onalaska, Wisc., native worked around three walks with three strikeouts.

After the rain delay, Brandon Johnson tossed the final two innings for WCU, fanning two against a walk with one unearned run on two hits.

Western Carolina led by one run after consecutive base hits by Schultz and Johns put two aboard before a sacrifice fly by Kirkpatrick gave the Catamounts a 1-0 lead. However, Miller belted a solo homer in the home half of the first to tie the game with a two-run home run by Trey Hayes handing the Bulldogs a two-run lead, 3-1.

An inning later, Ollie Goulder doubled down the left field line and was eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Tyler White to close to within one, with de Graaf's homer knotting the game at three.

Trailing by a run, 5-4, WCU was outscored 3-1 over the final six innings.

Samford reliever Mark Lewallyn (1-0) picked up the win out of the bullpen, allowing just one hit and one walk with a strikeout, with freshman Lex Rutledge earning his 11th save of the season after striking out two in the final two innings for the Bulldogs.

Western Carolina will conclude its five-game road trip on Tuesday evening as it steps out of conference to face Tennessee Tech. First pitch has been moved to 4:00 pm CT / 5:00 pm ET. The game will be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard online at CatamountSports.com.