March 14, 2007

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Luke Peavy singled to center field with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning to drive in pinch-runner Jonathan Lowery to lift the Samford baseball team to a 4-3 win over 22nd-ranked Alabama Wednesday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

"It was a great job by our guys, once we let the lead slip away, of staying focused, coming back and getting a big, big victory for us," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "I hope this begins to be the tone of this team, having a never-give-up attitude."

The game was played in front of 1,557 fans, the largest crowd in Joe Lee Griffin Field history.

Joseph Edens (2-1) pitched the final 2.0 innings, giving up a run on three hits to pick up the win on the mound. David Knapp started the game on the mound for Samford, pitching 6.0 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits. Clint Jones relieved Knapp in the seventh inning, pitching 2.0 innings, giving up no runs on two hits.

"Davey really pitched well," Dunn said. "The thing he did so well was he didn't try to do too much, and he didn't let the pressure of a big game against a good team get in his head. Clint was probably the biggest bright spot of tonight. He has thrown well all year, but this was the first time he had been in a real pressure situation."

For Samford at the plate, Peavy went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. Parker Gargis went 2-for-5 at the plate, and Bear Burnett had an RBI for the Bulldogs.

For Alabama, Bernard Robert pitched the final two-thirds of an inning, giving up one run on one hit to take the loss for the Crimson Tide. Jake Smith went 3-for-5 at the plate for Alabama, while Alex Avila and Ryan Rhoden collected two hits each.

Samford jumped on top first with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Burnett grounded out to short to drive in Kyle Krebs, who led the inning off with a walk.

Alabama came back with a run in the top of the second inning. Matt Bentley hit a solo home run to right-center field to tie the score at 1-1.

Samford took the lead back with a run in the bottom of the third inning. Gargis, who reached base on a single, scored when Burnett reached base on an Alabama error for a 2-1 Samford lead.

The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 3-1 with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Peavy led the inning off with a home run to left-center field, his second home run of the season, for a two-run Samford lead.

Alabama plated a run in the top of the fifth inning to cut the lead to 3-2. Avila singled to drive in Brandon Belcher for the Crimson Tide's second run of the game. Alabama tied the game at 3-3 with a run in the top of the ninth inning. Emeel Salem singled to left field to drive in Belcher to tie the score and send the game into extra innings.

Samford improves to 10-8 with the win, while Alabama drops to 13-7 with the loss.

Samford will return to action on Friday, March 16, when the Bulldogs play host to Purdue in the first game of a three-game series at Joe Lee Griffin Field. Friday's game is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. start.