Hot-Hitting Samford Sets Up Championship Rematch

Game 12: #4 Samford 12, #8 Furman 2
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SoCon Tournament Central

GREENVILLE, S.C. - No. 4 seed Samford jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and never looked back en route to a 12-2 win over No. 8 seed Furman on Saturday afternoon at Fluor Field. The win advances the Bulldogs to the conference championship game Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN3.

The showdown between the Bulldogs (38-21) and the sixth-seeded Eagles marks a rematch of last year's championship game, which GSU won 1-0 in Charleston.

Phillip Ervin was 3-for-4 at the plate for the Bulldogs, highlighted by a fourth inning grand slam that pushed Samford's lead to 9-0. Shortstop Austin Allison was a perfect 3-for-3 on the afternoon, while scoring three runs and driving in two more.

Bulldog starting pitcher Kyle Putkonen earned his first complete game of the season with the temperature approaching 90 degrees all game long. The right-hander gave up two runs on eight hits while striking out five.

Samford has belted out a minimum if of 13 hits in each of its three SoCon Tournament games.

First baseman Paul Nitto and right fielder Taylor Johnson each had two hits for the Paladins, who tallied nine hits but left 11 stranded on the base paths.

Starting pitcher Ben Carlson dropped the decision to move to 1-6. He gave up six runs, five of which were earned.

Furman's season concludes its 2012 campaign with a 28-31 mark after reaching the SoCon semifinals for the third time since the current format began in 2008.