May 19, 2002

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Freshman right-hander Alan Bryan pitched three shut-out innings in relief to pick up his first career save as Samford defeated Belmont, 7-5 Sunday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The Bulldogs (27-29, 13-17 A-Sun) clinched the final spot in next week's Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament with the win.

Samford clinched the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament after a crazy final weekend in A-Sun baseball. The Bulldogs needed to sweep Belmont, UCF to sweep Mercer, FAU to take one game from Georgia St. and Jacksonville St. to win one game over Campbell to advance to the tournament. Samford goes the tournament for the first time under head coach Tim Parenton.

Bryan (4-7), who pitched 7.1 innings in Samford's loss to Mississippi St. last Wednesday, allowed one hit in the three innings while striking out two in relief of Robert Evans (4-1), who picked up the win. Evans allowed four earned runs on seven hits in six innings while striking out five.

Cory Sumner and Robert Evans each went 3-for-5 to lead Samford. The Bulldogs out-hit the Bruins 11-8, but Belmont committed five errors in the contest.

Samford took an early 2-0 lead when Eli Iorg singled with the bases loaded to score Robert Evans and Grant Caldwell in the bottom of the first. Josh Brummett led of the top of the second with a solo home run, cutting the Bruins' deficit to 2-1.

Joe Denson's lead-off solo home run in the bottom of the second put the Bulldogs on top 3-1. With one out, Cory Sumner and later scored when Robert Evans singled and the Bruins' center fielder committed a two-base error, putting Samford ahead 4-1.

Samford made it 5-1 when Sumner scored another Belmont error. Dan Soukup's solo home run to lead off the fifth inning brought Belmont within 5-2, but the Bulldogs added two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Sae Evans doubled the left field line and advanced to third on Iorg's sacrifice bunt. Michael Collins singled up the middle to score Evans, giving Samford a 6-2 advantage. Sumner's RBI Singled scored Collins as the Bulldogs led 7-2.

Belmont chipped away at the Bulldog lead in the sixth inning. The Bruins scored two runs off two doubles and a Bulldog error, cutting their deficit to 7-4. Scott Browning's solo home run in the top of the seventh made it 7-5, but Bryan shut down Belmont over the next three innings.

Sae Evans, Iorg, Collins and Denson each added one hit for the Bulldogs. Brummett and Jason Warpool both went 2-for-4 to lead Belmont. The Bruins also set a new school record for stolen bases in a season with 103.

Samford now travels to DeLand, Fla. for the first round of the conference tournament. The Bulldogs will play No. 1 seed UCF in the opening game of the tournament at 11 a.m. (EST).