Baseball Drops Series Finale at Samford on Walk-Off Sacrifice Fly

Sunday, February 24

Birmingham, Ala.

2 PM

Xavier University

1-5

Samford

3-3

Xavier

Samford

Baseball Drops Series Finale at Samford on Walk-Off Sacrifice Fly

02.24.19 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Stats (PDF)

By: Brendan Bergen, Xavier Athletic Comunications

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Xavier baseball fell 10-9 on a walk-off sacrifice fly, dropping a back-and-forth series finale at Samford on Saturday at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

The Musketeers dropped to 1-5 to start the season, while the Bulldogs improved to 3-3 overall.

Xavier scored 23 runs in the series and hit .368 as a team in the series, but dropped a pair of slugfests in games one and three.

UP NEXT

• Xavier returns to action on Tuesday, facing Louisville on the road at 3 p.m. on the ACC Network.

XU AT THE PLATE

• Matt Warkentin wrapped up a monster weekend, going 2-for-5 with a three-run homer in the eighth inning. Warkentin finished the series 7-for-12 overall with three homers and seven runs scored. The senior started the season 0-for-10 at No. 7 North Carolina, but has rebounded to push his average to .318 (7-for-22) and he now leads XU with 16 total bases.
• Freshman Jack Housinger continued his hot start with a 2-for-4 line, knocking in two runs and scoring once. After three career starts, Housinger is hitting a team-best .538 (7-for-13) with four RBI.
• Grad transfer Jake Shepski was 2-for-6 with a run scored and a pair of RBI. He's off to a terrific start, hitting .400 (10-for-25) in six starts.
• Junior Conor Grammes went 2-for-5 with a run scored and a stolen base. He's tied for the team lead in hits with Shepski at 10.
• Natale Monastra had a big day, going 2-for-4 with three runs scored and a solo homer in the third inning.
• Allbry Major was perfect for the day, going 2-for-2 with a run scored, a sacrifice, a double, a triple and a pair of walks.
• Andrew Sexton also had a nice day, going 2-for-5 with an RBB out of the nine spot.
• Chris Givin (1-for-5) and Ryan Altenberger (1-for-4, R, 2B) also collected hits for XU.
• The Musketeers picked up 16 hits as every single starter picked up at least one base knock. Seven starters had multi-hit days.

XU ON THE MOUND

• Grad transfer Marko Boricich made his second start of the season, going 2.1 innings and allowing three earned runs before leaving in the third inning.
• Damien Richard came on in relief, going three full innings and allowing four earned runs.
• Trey Schramm followed with 2.2 innings of work, allowing three earned runs and striking out one.
• Taylor Williams finished things out on the mound, getting one out before allowing a sacrifice fly to end the game.

HOW XU SCORED

SECOND INNING | Ryan Altenberger led off with a walk, moving to second on a single by Natale Monastra. After a sacrifice bunt by Allbry Major, freshman Jack Housinger doubled to center to plate two runs and give XU an early lead. Andrew Sexton batted next, singling through the right side to score Housinger and make it 3-0.
THIRD INNING | Natale Monastra belted a solo shot to left to make it a 4-0 lead for XU.
FIFTH INNING | Natale Monastra led things off with a walk and moved to second after a pitching change and another walk by Allbry Major. Freshman Jack Housinger followed with a single to center to load the bases. After two straight outs, Jake Shepski singled to right to bring two home and give XU a 6-4 lead.
EIGHTH INNING | Samford rallied for five in the sixth to take a 9-6 lead, but Xavier fought back to tie things up again in the eighth. Jake Shepski led off with a single to right, going to third on a base hit to left center by Conor Grammes. Senior Matt Warkentin then smacked a three-run homer to left to make it a 9-9 game.