March 21, 2001

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Grant Caldwell hit a grand slam in the third inning and finished the game 2-for-3 with five RBI as Samford defeated Vanderbilt 9-1 at Hawkins Field Wednesday afternoon.

In a game rescheduled from Tuesday due to inclement weather, Samford (6-14) gained its second victory over Vanderbilt (15-7) this season, which was the first of two games for the Bulldogs on Wednesday. Caldwell's slam helped Samford erupt for five runs in the third inning, and the Bulldogs added two in the seventh and two in the ninth to sink the Commodores. Samford outhit the Commodores eight to seven, left six runners on base and committed one error, while Vanderbilt stranded seven and also made an error.

Joe Denson and Cory Sumner also went 2-for-3 for the Bulldogs, each scoring two runs. Charlie Crabbe (2-0) pitched three scoreless innings with four strikeouts to get the win after replacing starter Derek Tharpe in the third inning. Major Allred pitched two innings and allowed Vandy's only run, while Robert Evans finished the last two innings with no hits and one strikeout. Taylor Childress (1-3) took the loss for Vanderbilt.

After Jason Livermore flied out to lead off the third inning, Joe Denson singled and Cory Sumner walked to place two Bulldogs on base. A groundout by Sae Evans then advanced the runners to second and third and Ricky Honeycutt walked to load the bases. Robert Evans drew a walk to score Denson and give Samford a 1-0 lead, then Caldwell picked up the second hit of the inning, a grand slam that pushed the Bulldogs' lead to 5-0.

Allred surrendered Vanderbilt's only run on a solo home run by Sean Luellwitz in the sixth inning, while Samford would tally four additional runs. In the seventh Samford got singles from Sumner and Caldwell and walks by Denson and Honeycutt to score two, then took advantage of a Vandy error, a walk to score a run and a single by Robert Evans to score the final two runs in the top of the ninth.

Samford also had a regularly scheduled game with Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Wednesday evening.

The Bulldogs travel to Deland, Fla., this weekend to face Stetson in a three-game Trans America Athletic Conference series March 23-24.