April 16, 2008

Box Score

TROY, Ala. - The Samford baseball team dropped a 9-1 decision at Troy Wednesday night at Riddle-Pace Field.

For Samford, Michael Rutledge drove in the Bulldogs' lone run in a 1-for-2 performance. Michael Johnson, Bill Whitehead and Michael Marseco also had a hit each for Samford. Marseco's double in the sixth inning extended his career-long hitting streak to 19 games.

Grant Sides pitched 3.0 innings, giving up four runs on five hits to take the loss. Samford drops to 22-12 with the loss.

For Troy, Michael Precise went 3-for-5 with a grand slam and six RBI. Rob Brown pitched 5.0 scoreless innings, giving up two hits to pick up the win. The Trojans improve to 22-16 with the win.

Troy jumped on top first with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Precise singled up the middle to drive in Adam Bryant, who led the inning off with a walk, to give the Trojans a 1-0 lead.

The Trojans added three runs in the bottom of the third inning to push their lead to 4-0. Beau Brooks grounded out to drive in Steven Felix for the first run of the inning. After Troy loaded the bases with two outs, Trevor Tyre singled to center field to drive in Bryan Miller and Brock Kelley for a four-run Troy lead.

Troy plated another run in the bottom of the fourth inning to make the score 5-0. Precise singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Felix, who had earlier tripled, for the Trojans' fifth run of the game.

Troy added four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to increase its lead to 9-0. All four runs came on Precise's grand slam to left field.

Samford got on the board with a run in the top of the sixth inning. Marseco doubled to right field, and then Rutledge doubled down the left-field line to drive in Marseco to make the final score 9-1.

Samford will return to action Saturday when the Bulldogs play an Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader at Southeast Missouri at 1 p.m. The teams will also play a single game Sunday at 1 p.m.