TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—The Samford baseball team was eliminated from the NCAA Tallahassee Regional with a 5-2 loss to top-seeded and third-ranked Florida State in the championship round of the regional Sunday evening at Dick Howser Stadium.
 
With the loss, Samford ends the most successful season in program history. The Bulldogs earned their first Southern Conference title and NCAA Tournament bid this season. The team's final record of 41-23 gives the program its first-ever 40-win season as well.
 
“To begin with if you told us at the beginning of the season it would end in a regional final in Tallahassee in front of a packed house, we would've all been pretty happy,” Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. “Obviously, when you end the season on a loss, it's pretty tough. These guys played their hearts out. I couldn't be any prouder of the way we competed.”
 
Samford advanced to the championship round with a 3-2 win over second-seeded and 17^th-ranked Mississippi State earlier in the day.
 
Samford was led at the plate against FSU by Tommy Corbin, driving in two runs in a 1-for-3 performance. Brad Moss, Brandon Miller, C.K. Irby and Christiaan Durdaller also had one hit each for Samford.
 
C.K. Irby (5-2) pitched 2.0 innings, giving up three runs on three hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford. Michael Gunter pitched the final 5.2 innings, allowing no hits and striking out six batters.
 
“Michael Gunter did a phenomenal job out of the bullpen to give us a shot,” Dunn said. “In the end we just couldn't do enough.”
 
For Florida State, Mike Compton (11-2) pitched 6.0 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and striking out five batters to earn the win. Robert Benincasa tossed the final inning to pick up his 15^th save of the season.
 
Florida State was led at the plate by Josh Delph, going 2-for-3 with two RBI. Stephen McGee also drove in two runs, going 1-for-3 at the plate.
 
Florida State jumped on top with three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Jayce Boyd led the inning off with a single. McGee then walked, moving Boyd to second base. The runners moved to second and third base on a sacrifice bunt by Justin Gonzalez. Delph then singled to drive in Boyd and McGee for the first two runs of the game. After Delph moved to third base on a single by John Holland, he scored on a sacrifice fly by Jose Brizuela for a 3-0 FSU lead.
 
The Seminoles added two more runs in the bottom of the third inning to push their lead to 5-0. Devon Travis led the inning off with a single. James Ramsey then walked and Boyd was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. McGee then singled to drive in Travis and Ramsey for a five-run Seminole lead.
 
Samford put its two runs on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Florida State lead to 5-2. Irby reached base on an FSU error to lead off the inning. Durdaller then doubled, moving Irby to third base. With one out in the inning, Corbin singled to drive in Irby and Durdaller to pull Samford to within three runs.
 
With the win, Florida State (46-15) advances to next week's Super Regional, which the Seminoles will host, taking on the winner of the Palo Alto Regional.
 
At the conclusion of the game, the All-Regional Team was selected. Starting pitcher Charles Basford, outfielder Miller and designated hitter Irby were Samford's representatives on the team.