BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Georgia Southern Eagles fell to Samford for the second-straight day, 9-2 at Joe Lee Griffin Field and dropped its first series to the Bulldogs since they entered the Southern Conference.
    Another grand slam by Saxon Butler blew open the game early and powered the Bulldogs to their best start yet in SoCon play.
    Lex Rutledge picked up his fourth win of the year after a quality start. The sophomore pitcher allowed two runs on four hits in seven innings of work and struck out seven batters while walking four. C.K. Irby closed out the game for Samford and struck out four Eagles in just two innings without allowing a run.
    Shawn Payne extended his reached-base streak to 49 games with a base hit in the third inning.
    Samford (15-6, 5-0 SoCon) got on the board early and scored five runs in the first two innings. A two-out single by Kevin Putkonen plated a runner in the first inning before a repeat performance by Butler drove in four runs with his second grand slam of the series.
    The Eagles (11-9, 3-2) got two runs back in the third inning after loading the bases without an out. A fielder's choice by Michael Burruss and a RBI single from Eric Phillips scored the two runs. Brent Pugh led off the inning with a bunt single and moved to second base after Arthur Owens worked a walk. Payne loaded the bases with a base hit to left field, but he was out on the fielder's choice.
    Brandon Miller, who scored Samford's first run on Friday night with a solo shot, put another run on the board for the Bulldogs with his fifth home run of the season. Miller launched another solo job in the fifth inning to extend the Samford lead to 6-2.
    The Bulldogs added another run in the sixth inning on back-to-back two out hits and scored two more runs in the seventh inning.

Josh Adams (Bath, S.C.) lasted only one inning and was tagged with his second loss of the season. Adams allowed four runs on three hits, walking two and striking out one batter. Jarret Leverett (Eatonton, Ga.) threw five innings in relief of the junior pitcher, allowing five runs on nine hits including the two home runs. Justin Hess (Panama City, Fla.) threw two scoreless innings to close out the game for the Eagles.

Georgia Southern and Samford will meet one last time at Joe Lee Griffin Field for the series finale on Sunday at 2 p.m. EST. Moye (1-1, 4.32 ERA) is set to take the mound for Georgia Southern, while the Bulldogs will counter with Charles Basford (2-0, 1.15 ERA).

Southern Conference Standings
Team    SoCon    All    Streak    GB
    Samford      5-0    15-6    W7    —
Elon      5-0    14-6    W2    —
UNC Greensboro      4-1    12-6    L1    1
Charleston      2-1    15-5    L2    2
Ga. Southern      3-2    11-9    L4    2
The Citadel      4-4    8-10    W1    2.5
Furman      3-4    9-11    W3    3
Davidson      3-4    8-10    L1    3
Wofford      0-2    11-8    L3    3.5
W. Carolina      0-5    8-9    L3    5
Appalachian St.      1-7    9-10    W1    5.5

Saturday's Results
    UConn 3, No. 21 Charleston, 1
    Appalachian St. 4, UNCG 2
    Elon 5, Western Carolina 4
    The Citadel 2, Davidson 1
    Furman 4, Wofford 2            Samford 9, Georgia Southern 2