Box Score STARKVILLE, Miss.—The Samford baseball team plated three runs in the top of the eighth inning to pull away for a 6-3 win over Purdue in the Diamond Classic, hosted by Mississippi State, Sunday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field. Samford will now take on tournament host and fifth-ranked Mississippi State this afternoon at 3 p.m.
 
The win was the 250^th career win for Samford head coach Casey Dunn. Dunn, now in his ninth season with the program, is the all-time winningest coach in program history.
 
For Samford in the win, Drew McWhorter went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Tommy Corbin drove in two runs in a 1-for-3 performance. Brandon Powell, C.K. Irby and Frankie Navarrete also drove in a run each for Samford.
 
Samford pitcher Alex Milazzo (2-0) earned the win, pitching 7.0 innings, giving up three runs on five hits and striking out seven batters. Arthur Strauss pitched the final inning, retiring the Boilermakers in order to pick up his second save of the season.
 
Sean McHugh went 1-for-4 with an RBI to lead Purdue at the plate. Mike Lutz (0-1) took the loss on the mound for the Boilermakers, pitching 1.1 innings in relief, allowing two runs on two hits.
 
Samford jumped on top early with three runs in the top of the second inning. McWhorter doubled to left-center field to drive in Christiaan Durdaller for the game's first run. Navarrete later singled to drive in McWhorter for a 2-0 Samford lead. Austin Allison plated the inning's final run on a sacrifice fly by Corbin to give Samford a 3-0 lead.
 
Purdue tied the score with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Jack Amaro scored the Boilermakers' first run on a wild pitch. Kyle Johnson scored the second run of the inning on an infield single by McHugh. The game-tying run was scored when Brandon Krieg came home on a wild pitch to make the score 3-3.
 
Samford answered with three runs in the top of the eighth inning to take a 6-3 lead. Damon Waller, who pinch ran for McWhorter, scored the inning's first run when Powell walked with the bases loaded. Corbin then walked, bringing Allison home. Navarrete later scored on a sacrifice fly by Irby for a three-run Samford lead.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 5-3 on the young season, Purdue drops to 3-5 with the loss.
 
Sunday afternoon's game against fifth-ranked Mississippi State can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. Live stats will be available at www.hailsatate.com.