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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Wofford College baseball team scored seven runs in the top of the twelfth to defeat Samford 11-5 on Sunday afternoon at Joe L. Griffin Field. With the game tied at four after eight innings, the Terriers used a grand slam by Neil Robinette and a three-run homer by Michael Gilmartin to win the game in the twelfth.
Wofford is now 4-6 on the season and 1-2 in the Southern Conference, while Samford is 5-6 overall and are 2-1 in the league. The Terriers were led by Jake Williams with three hits, while five other Terriers had two hits. Michael Gilmartin had two hits, both home runs, and four RBIs. Neil Robinette had four RBIs on his one hit of the day. The Bulldogs were led by David Schulze with two hits and two RBIs while Wayne Miller scored three runs.
The Terriers opened the game with a single from Alex Lee. He moved to second on a balk and to third on a ground out. Konstantine Diamaduros then hit a single to left field to score Lee for the early 1-0 lead.
Wofford added two hits in the second, but the score remained the same heading into the top of the fourth. Kyle Behrendt led off with a double and moved to third on a passed ball. Mike McDonnell reached first on a fielder’s choice that scored Behrendt. After a single from James Foster, Alex Lee grounded out and scored McDonnell to give the Terriers a 3-1 lead. The Bulldogs had their first hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth from David Schulze.
Michael Gilmartin added to the Wofford lead with a solo home run to open the top of the fifth inning for a 4-0 lead. Samford was able to cut into the advantage in the bottom of the fifth, as Marcus Rodriguez led off with a walk. After a passed ball and a ground out, Rodriguez was at third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Stephen Ballard.
The Bulldogs got another run back in the bottom of the sixth as Wayne Miller reached base on an error and a double from Michael Johnson brought him home for a 4-2 score. A double play by Wofford ended the sixth.
In the seventh, Jake Williams hit a double, but was left on base. With Samford back at the plate, Matthew Bennett entered the game as a pinch hitter and hit a solo home run to pull the Bulldogs within one at 4-3. In the bottom of the eight, the Bulldogs tied the game when David Schulze singled up the middle to score Wayne Miller from second. A double play ended the inning with the score tied at 4-4.
Wofford was three-up and three-down to start the ninth inning. Samford had one base runner in the bottom of the ninth, but never advanced past first and the game moved to extra innings.
For Wofford in the top of the tenth, Jake Williams walked and a single by Mac Doyle to right field with two outs advanced Williams to third but the Terriers were unable to score. With two outs in the bottom of the tenth, Mason Meredeth hit a double to left center. David Schulze walked for a second base runner, but the Terriers got the final out of the inning with both runners stranded.
Josh McKinney hit a triple with two outs in the top of the eleventh, but a ground out by Michael Gilmartin ended the Wofford half of the inning. Matthew Bennett singled for the Bulldogs in the bottom of the eleventh, however a fielder’s choice left the game tied at 4-4.
Moving on to the twelfth, Konstantine Diamaduros reached first on an error. Jake Williams advanced the runner with a bunt single. Kyle Behrendt grounded out, but both runners advanced. Mac Doyle walked, loading the bases with one out. Neil Robinette came to the plate and hit a grand slam home run to give Wofford an 8-4 lead. James Foster added a single and Alex Lee walked, giving Michael Gilmartin a three run homer in the next at bat.
In the bottom of the twelfth, David Schulze hit a sacrifice fly to score Wayne Miller. The Bulldogs left three on base at the end of the inning as Wofford was able to take the 11-5 victory.
For Wofford, starter Bobby DeLuria went the first five innings, allowing just two hits, two runs and two walks with two strikeouts. Drew Sheridan went 1.1 innings without a hit allowed. J.D. Osborne threw a third of an inning and allowed one run on one hit. Bobby Streisel went 1.1 innings and allowed one run, one hit and had two strikeouts. Michael Gilmartin (2-0) threw three innings with two hits and two strikeouts. John Cornely pitched two-thirds of an inning, allowing one hit and one run, while Cash Collins recorded the final out of the game.
Samford starter Andrew Jones threw the first six innings with nine hits and four runs allowed while striking out six. Mark Lewallyn went three innings with one hit allowed and three strikeouts. Dayne Cutrell entered the game in the tenth and went 1.2 innings with two hits allowed and one strikeout. Kyle Nichols lasted a third of an inning without a hit allowed and Josh Martin (0-1) allowed four hits and six runs in two-thirds of an inning. Kyle Putkonen recorded the Bulldogs final out.
It was the first extra innings game of the season for the Terriers and the first extra inning victory since April 6, 2008 against The Citadel (6-5 in 10). The last time Wofford went 12 innings or more was in a 10-9 loss at Georgia Southern on April 27, 2007 (12). Wofford had sixteen hits in the game, the most this season and the sixth time the Terriers have had ten or more hits in a game.
Wofford will host Gardner-Webb on Tuesday at 7:00 pm in a game added to the schedule. The Terriers will then travel to South Carolina for a game Wednesday night at 7:00 pm at Carolina Stadium. Wofford will host Fordham for a four-game series beginning on Friday night.
