April 1, 2008

Box Score

MACON, Ga. - The Samford baseball team plated six runs in the seventh inning and two in the ninth to earn a 10-6, come-from-behind win at Mercer Tuesday evening.

With the win, Samford improves to 15-8. Mercer drops to 11-17 with the loss.

Michael Rutledge led Samford at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a double and five RBI. Bear Burnett was 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. Bill Whitehead went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Bulldogs.

Trent Hill pitched 2.1 innings in relief, giving up one run on five hits to pick up the win on the mound.

For Mercer, Tyler McCarty was 3-for-4 with two RBI. Mike Armstrong was 3-for-5 with two RBI. Scott Patterson pitched a third of an inning to take the loss on the mound for the Bears.

Samford trailed, 4-2, heading into the seventh inning, but the Bulldogs plated six runs in the seventh to take an 8-4 lead. Whitehead scored the first run of the inning when Wayne Miller hit a sacrifice fly to center field. Rutledge later singled up the middle to drive in Stephen Ballard and Tripp Swann. Burnett then hit a three-run home run with Rutledge and Michael Marseco on base for a four-run Samford lead.

After Mercer added a run in the bottom of the eighth inning, Samford came back with two more runs in the top of the ninth. Marseco doubled to left field to drive in Michael Johnson for the inning's first run. Rutledge then singled to left field to drive in Marseco to give Samford a 10-5 lead.

Mercer added one final run in the bottom of the ninth inning to make the final score 10-6.

Samford will return to action on Wednesday, when the Bulldogs play host to Georgia State. The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start from Joe Lee Griffin Field.