GREENVILLE, S.C.—Four Samford pitchers combined for a four-hit shutout as the fourth-seeded Bulldog baseball team defeated fifth-seeded Western Carolina, 7-0, in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament Wednesday evening at Fluor Field.
 
Josh Martin (12-1) pitched 7.0 innings, giving up no runs on three hits and striking out seven batters to earn the win. Martin's 12 wins set a new Samford single-season record, and the total is tied for second in SoCon history. The 12 wins also currently lead all of Division I baseball. Tyler Vanderheiden, Michael Gunter and Joseph Burns combined for the final 2.0 innings to secure the win.
 
“This was just a really well-played game,” Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. “We made every play we needed to make defensively. Josh gave us a phenomenal start and we were able to put up seven runs against a pretty good guy in Jordan Smith.”
 
Samford was led at the plate by Phillip Ervin, going 3-for-5 with an RBI. Austin Allison went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI. Saxon Butler went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Tommy Corbin went 2-for-5 for the Bulldogs.
 
Western Carolina's Jordan Smith (4-5) pitched 5.0 innings, allowing six runs on nine hits to take the loss for the Catamounts. Tyler White led WCU at the plate, going 2-for-3.
 
Samford jumped on top first with two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Allison led the inning off with a double down the left-field line. Allison then moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Zeth Stone. After Brad Moss walked, Butler singled to left-center field to drive in Allison for the game's first run. Ervin then singled to drive in Moss for a 2-0 Samford lead.
 
The Bulldogs added two more runs in the fourth inning to push their lead to 4-0. Christiaan Durdaller and Corbin led the inning off with back-to-back singles. Durdaller then scored on a sacrifice bunt by Allison for Samford's third run of the game. Stone then doubled to drive in Corbin for a four-run Samford lead.
 
Samford plated two runs again in the fifth inning to make the score 6-0. Ervin singled to lead off the inning. With one out in the inning, C.K. Irby singled, moving Ervin to second base. Durdaller was then hit by a pitch to load the bases. With two outs in the inning, Allison singled to right-center field to drive in Ervin and Irby to give Samford a six-run lead.
 
The Bulldogs added one final run in the bottom of the seventh inning to push their lead to 7-0. Allison reached base on a fielder's choice and later scored on a single by Moss for Samford's seventh run of the contest.
 
Samford improves to 36-21 with the win, while Western Carolina drops to 32-23 with the loss.
 
Samford will now take on top-seeded Appalachian State Thursday evening at 7 p.m. (CT). Western Carolina will take on Furman in an elimination game at 12 p.m. (CT) on Thursday.
 
The Samford-Appalachian State game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. Fans can also follow the game online via GameTracker at www.samfordsports.com.