April 24, 2009

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A ninth-inning comeback fell just short as the Samford baseball team dropped the first game of a three-game Southern Conference series to Elon, 11-8, Friday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

With the win, Elon improves to 26-13 overall and 15-4 in SoCon play. Samford drops to 15-27 overall and 8-14 in league play.

For Samford at the plate, David Schulze was 3-for-4 with three RBI. Stephen Ballard went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Mason Meredeth extended his current hitting streak to 27 games with a 1-for-3 performance.

Michael Jarry pitched 5.1 innings giving up six earned runs on nine hits to take the loss. Dayne Cutrell pitched the final 3.2 innings, giving up three runs on five hits.

Elon belted three home runs in the game. Cory Harrilchak, Justin Hilt and Dallas Tarleton each homered for the Phoenix. Harrilchak was 3-for-6 with three RBI. Mike Melillo also had three hits, going 3-for-4 with two RBI.

Jimmy Reyes pitched 6.0 innings, giving up four runs on seven hits to earn the win. Thomas Girdwood tossed the final third of an inning to earn his 11th save of the season.

With Samford trailing, 11-4, heading into the ninth inning, the Bulldogs plated four runs in the final inning to make the final score 11-8. Pinch-hitter Gary Cramer walked to lead off the inning. Michael Johnson, who was also pinch-hitting, then singled to right-center field and Cramer advanced to third base.

Wayne Miller was then hit by a pitch to load the bases. Cramer scored the first run of the inning when Ballard reached base on a fielder's choice. Meredeth then walked to once again load the bases. Schulze then singled to drive in Johnson to make the score 11-6.

Bo Smith hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Ballard, and Meredeth later scored when Trey Hayes reached base on an Elon error to make the score 11-8. With runners on first and second base and the tying run at the plate, Joe Durham hit a fly ball to right field that Elon's Hilt caught on the warning track to end the game.

Samford jumped on top first with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Elon plated one run in the second inning, two runs in the third inning and one more in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead. The Phoenix pulled away with five runs in the top of the sixth inning to make the score 9-1.

Samford came back with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the lead to 9-4. Elon added two more runs in the eighth inning to push its lead to 11-4.

The same two teams will continue this weekend's series with a game Saturday afternoon. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start from Joe Lee Griffin Field. Fans can follow the game live on the internet via GameTracker at the link below.

GameTracker For Saturday's Game