Baseball Drops 14-6 Decision To Auburn :: The Bulldogs fall to 12-8 with the loss

March 26, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Auburn baseball team plated eight runs in the fourth inning on its way to a 14-6 win over Samford Wednesday night at Regions Park.

"I thought our kids played hard," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "We played really well early on, but we had one bad inning. When you give up eight in a frame, it is difficult to overcome.

"I thought our guys did a good job of fighting back," Dunn said. "We played hard, we just couldn't get around that one big inning."

For Samford (12-8) at the plate, Wayne Miller was 3-for-4 with two RBI. Alex Godshall and Tripp Swann were 2-for-3 each for the Bulldogs. Joshua Vanfleteren pitched an inning in relief, giving up eight runs, only one of which was earned, on four hits to take the loss. Vanfleteren was one of seven pitchers used by Samford in the game.

Auburn (16-9) was led by Joseph Sanders, who drove in four runs on a grand slam in a 2-for-5 performance. Mike Bianucci was 3-for-3 for the Tigers. Bradley Hendrix pitched 4.0 innings, giving up a run on three hits to pick up the win.

Auburn plated a run in the first inning and another in the third to take a 2-0 lead. Hunter Morris tripled to right-center field to drive in Bianucci for the first run of the game. In the third inning, Matt Hall scored from third base on a balk for a 2-0 Auburn lead.

Samford came back with three runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 3-2 lead. Miller, Michael Marseco and Michael Rutledge each drove in a run for the Bulldogs in the inning.

Auburn answered with eight runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a commanding 10-3 lead. The majority of the damage in the inning came when Sanders hit his grand slam for the final four runs of the inning.

Samford plated a run in the bottom of the fourth inning and two in the eighth, while Auburn added two runs in the fifth inning and two more in the ninth to make the final score 14-6.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, Mar. 29, when the Bulldogs play at Murray State in an Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. The teams will also play a single game Sunday at 1 p.m.