Box Score CHARLESTON, S.C.—The Citadel baseball team hit five home runs on its way to a 12-3 win over Samford in the Southern Conference opener for both teams Friday night at Riley Park.
 
Bo Thompson hit three of The Citadel's five homers, going 4-for-4 with five RBI. Drew DeKerlegand and Calvin Orth also hit one home run each. Austin Pritcher (3-0), pitched 6.2 innings, allowing three runs on five hits to earn the win on the mound.
 
For Samford, Tommy Corbin went 2-for-3 with two RBI to lead the Bulldogs at the plate. C.K. Irby (2-2) tossed 6.0 innings, giving up six runs on seven hits to take the loss.
 
Samford jumped on top first with a run in the top of the first inning. Zeth Stone led the inning off with a double to left field. Corbin then singled to right field to drive in Stone for a 1-0 Samford lead.
 
The Citadel answered with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Mason Davis tripled to right-center field to lead off the inning. DeKerlegand then singled to drive in Davis to tie the score at 1-1. With one out, Thompson homered to left-center field to make the score 3-1.
 
The Citadel plated two more runs in the bottom of the third inning to push its lead to 5-1. Joe Jackson walked with one out in the inning. Thompson then hit his second home run of the game to give The Citadel a four-run lead.
 
In the bottom of the sixth inning, The Citadel added another run to make the score 6-1. Thompson homered for the third time in the game to lead off the inning for a five-run Citadel lead.
 
Samford scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to bring the Bulldogs to within three runs at 6-3. Frankie Navarrete reached base on a fielder's choice and later scored the inning's first run on a single by Corbin. Samford's final run of the inning scored when Irby singled to drive in Stone.
 
The Citadel plated another run in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the score 7-3. Davis walked to lead off the inning and then stole second base. Davis later scored on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Griffin.
 
The Citadel added another five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to push its lead to 12-3. Orth homered to left field to lead off the inning for a five-run Citadel lead. DeKerlegand later hit a three-run homer to give The Citadel 11 runs. The game's final run scored when Brett Bullard scored on a Samford error.
 
With the loss, Samford drops to 9-6 overall and 0-1 in Southern Conference play. The Citadel improves to 9-5 overall and 1-0 in league play.
 
The teams will continue their three-game series with another game Saturday afternoon. The game is scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. (CT) start.