May 27, 2010

click here for complete list of scores

CBI Live: SoCon Game 5: #7 ASU 6, #3 GSU 2

CBI Live: SoCon Game 7: #1 The Citadel 6, #4 Elon 3 (10)

CBI Live: SoCon Game 8: #6 WCU 7, #2 CofC 6 (12)

CBI Live
Hayes homers twice as Samford outscores Furman

By Phil Stanton

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Co-Founder

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Survive and advance.

Senior Trey Hayes homered in each of the first two innings as fifth-seeded Samford built a 10-0 lead and held on to defeat eighth-seeded Furman 13-10 in an elimination game Thursday on Day 2 of the Southern Conference Tournament at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

The Bulldogs (31-24) will face the loser of Elon-The Citadel on Friday at 7 p.m. in an elimination game. The Paladins finish their season with a 19-37 mark.

Samford had the bats going from the start. David Schulze had a run-scoring single in the top of the first to extend his hit streak to 25. Hayes followed that with a three-run homer to give the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead. Mason Meredeth had a two-run triple and Hayes added a solo shot in the second for an 8-0 advantage. Samford now has 70 homers, a school record.

“Today was an elimination and I want to do whatever I can to help our team win,” Hayes said. “Hitting those home runs today helped us out early.”

Wayne Miller ripped a RBI double and scored in the third as the Bulldogs pushed the lead to 10-0.

“Great start,” said Samford head coach Casey Dunn. “Great job offensively, a good job for five innings and a poor job for the last four. We came out well which was the biggest thing for us today. It was great to see the start that we had.”

Furman slowly chipped away. The Paladins got one in the third, two in the fourth and six in the sixth, capped by a grand slam by Will Owens, to pull to within two at 11-9.

Samford added single runs in the seventh and eighth to extend the lead to 13-9.

“It’s huge,” Dunn said about the add-on runs. “We feel pretty good that when Lex (Rutledge) comes into the game, we’re in pretty good shape. That was a scrappy little group across the way today. They found a way to put some balls in play in the right places and almost got us.”

The run in the seventh came on a bases-loaded walk to Hayes with two outs.

“I was up there wanted to hit it,” Hayes said, “and patience is something I sometimes struggle with. I like swinging. I was happy I was able to wait on some of those.”

Hayes finished with two hits and five RBI. Meredeth had three hits, two runs and three RBI. Wayne Miller (3 for 5, 2 R, 2 RBI), Michael Johnson (3 for 4, 2 R) and Brad Moss (2 for 3, 3 R) for the Samford offense.

Owens, and Aaron Thompkins both had three hits for Furman. Will Miller had two hits, including his fifth homer, for the Paladins.

Josh Martin (5-6) earned the win, going five innings with six hits, three runs (two earned), one walk and two strikeouts. Rutledge was the fifth arm used by Dunn. He worked the final 1.1 innings with no runs and three strikeouts.

“We took a starter out after the fifth so he could throw down the road for us if we get the opportunity,” Dunn said. “It almost came back to bite us in the tail. If we can figure out a way how to extend and get to Saturday we’ll at least have one of our better guys available.”

Furman used a total of nine pitchers in the contest.

(photos courtesy of Southern Conference Media Relations Office)