Baseball Drops 6-4 Decision In Game Three Versus EIU :: Samford drops to 12-3 in the OVC with the loss

April 23, 2006

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team dropped a 6-4 decision in the third game of its three-game series with Eastern Illinois Sunday at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

For the game, Samford (23-17, 12-3 OVC) was led by John Morgan, going 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Michael Marseco went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Bulldogs. David Knapp pitched 2.0 innings in relief, giving up two runs on two hits to take the loss on the mound. Chandler Tidwell started the game for Samford, pitching 5.0 innings, giving up two earned runs on eight hits.

Eastern Illinois (20-17, 8-7 OVC) was led by Bret Nommensen, Mark Chagnon and Jason Cobb, each going 3-for-4 at the plate. Chris Vaculik pitched 4.0 innings in relief, giving up a run on two hits to pick up the win for the Panthers.

Eastern Illinois jumped on top early with two runs in the top of the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. Chagnon singled to drive in Nommensen for the game's first run. EIU made the score 2-0 when Cobb hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Chagnon.

Samford cut the Panthers' lead to 2-1 with a run in the fourth inning. Morgan led the inning off with his second home run of the season, a solo homer to left field.

The Panthers plated two more runs in the fifth inning to push their lead to 4-1. Erik Huber singled to drive in Adam Verrassi to make the score 3-1. The final run of the inning scored when Ryan Campbell drove in Nommensen with a bunt single.

Samford came back to tie the score with two runs in the sixth inning and one in the seventh. In the sixth inning, Morgan singled to drive in Trey Moody to make the score 4-2. Parker Gargis was later hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in Marseco to cut the EIU lead to 4-3. The tying run in the seventh scored when Marseco singled up the middle to drive in Matt Alling.

EIU plated two runs in the top of the sixth inning to take the lead for good and make the final score 6-4. Cobb scored the first run of the inning on a Samford error. Verrassi later singled to drive in Casey Spears for the game's final run.

Samford will return to action on Wednesday, April 26, when the Bulldogs play at Kennesaw State. The game is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. Central, and it can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.al.com/wvsu or www.samfordsports.com.