Samford Shuts Down Cougars? Offense in 4-1 Defeat

Friday, May 20

Birmingham, Ala.

7:00 PM

College of Charleston

Samford

5/21/2011 2:05:00 AM | Baseball

By: CofCSports.com

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford University starter Josh Martin held the College of Charleston to one run on five hits in 6-2/3 innings as Samford handed the Cougars a 4-1 defeat in Southern Conference action Friday evening at J.L. Griffin Field. The Cougars fall to 36-19 overall, 18-11 in the SoCon and will close out the regular season against Samford tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. EST.

Samford (33-22, 17-12) opened the scoring in the bottom of the first on a RBI groundout by Brandon Miller for a 1-0 lead. With one out, Brad Moss singled up the middle and stole second. A double down the left-field line by Saxon Butler advanced Moss to third, who then scored when Miller grounded out to second.

The Bulldogs doubled their lead to 2-0 in the third, using a single and a pair of Charleston errors to put runners at second and third with no outs. After a dropped foul ball by senior C Robert Pritcher (Charleston, S.C.) would have retired Moss, the Samford catcher lined a single to right center to reach base. Butler followed with a single to left center, but redshirt-junior LF Jose Rodriguez (Hialeah, Fla.) dropped the ball while fielding it, putting both runners in scoring position. A fielder's choice by Phillip Ervin got Moss out at home and put runners at the corners for Kevin Putkonen, who drove in Butler with a RBI single to right for a two-run advantage.

Charleston cut the deficit in half in the seventh with a single run to make the score 2-1. Senior CF Cole Rakar (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) was hit by a 1-1 pitch to lead off the frame and one out later, senior SS Jamie Holler (Rock Hill, S.C.) hit a double off the wall in left to move Rakar to third. Redshirt-senior Ryan Daniels (Victoria, Texas) pinch hit for Pritcher and knocked a sacrifice fly to left to score Rakar from third to make the score 2-1.

Samford added two runs in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win. With one down, Moss was hit by a 1-1 pitch from redshirt-junior RHP Nick Osterman (Goose Creek, S.C.) and Butler lined a RBI double down the left-field line to plate Moss. A wild pitch moved Butler to third and after a base on balls to Miller, Ervin hit a RBI groundout to second to score Butler for a 4-1 Samford lead.

Junior RHP David Peterson (Walnut Creek, Calif.) allowed two runs on six hits over four innings with three strikeouts, falling to 5-6 on the season. Osterman scattered three hits over three innings, giving up two runs and striking out four. Redshirt-junior DH Rob Kral (Randolph, N.J.) had two hits to lead the Cougars.

Butler went 4-for-4 for Samford, with three doubles and two runs scored. Andrew Jones pitched a perfect ninth to earn his 13th save of the season.

Charleston and Samford close out the regular season tomorrow afternoon with game three of the series. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m. EST. The winner of the game will be the #3 seed in the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament, beginning Wednesday, May 25, at Riley Park in Charleston, S.C.