BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A pair of two-out rallies were too much to overcome for UNCG baseball Friday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field in Birmingham, Ala.  The Spartans fell to the Samford Bulldogs 7-1, with six of Samford's runs being scored with two outs.  UNCG falls to 30-21 on the season, and are now 13-10 in Southern Conference play.  The Samford Bulldogs improve to 31-23, and 11-12 in the SoCon.

Matt Frisbee (Candler, N.C./Enka) got the start.  The sophomore went 5.2 innings, allowing seven hits, three earned runs and struck out six hitters.  Jack Maynard (Crozet, Va./Patrick Henry CC) was first out of the bullpen.  Maynard closed out the sixth, but gave up two runs in the process.  Alex Sova (Midland, Mich./Kellogg CC) tossed a perfect seventh inning before giving way to Michael Bates (Winston-Salem, N.C./West Forsyth) in the eighth.  Bates gave up three hits, and two runs, one earned.

The Spartan offense again had a quiet night, managing just six hits.  Ben Spitznagel (Cincinnati, Ohio/Wabash Valley CC) led the charge with a 2-for-5 performance, including a double. Andrew Moritz (Charlotte, N.C./Providence), Michael Goss (Cartersville, Ga./Chattanooga St. CC), Zach Kuchmaner (Charlotte, N.C./Marvin Ridge) and Austin Embler (Southern Pines, N.C./Pinecrest) each tallied hits.

UNCG took an early lead, scoring a run in the top of the second.  With one out, Kuchmaner drew a walk, and took off for second when Embler dropped in a double to right center field.  Kuchmaner never slowed down as he was able to score from first on the play to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.

Samford got to Frisbee in the bottom of the fifth.  After Frisbee struck out the first two batters, four-straight singles scored a pair before Goss made a diving stab and flipped the ball backhanded to Frisbee to record the final out.

The Bulldogs again rallied with two outs in the sixth inning.  After back-to-back singles, four-straight walks drove in three to put Samford up 5-1.

Samford tacked on two more in the eighth inning.  After Ayrton Schafer led the inning off with a single, a sacrifice bunt moved him to second.  Troy Dixon singled to put runners on the corners for T.J. Dixon who hit into a fielder's choice.  UNCG couldn't handle the play and an error allowed a run to score and put runners on first and second.  Jordan Fucci singled to center field to drive in another to give Samford the 7-1 lead.

UNCG and Samford are scheduled to finish up the series tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.  The game time has been bumped up as there is inclement weather in the forecast for tomorrow afternoon.

-UNCG-