PARKER CURRY VIDEO INTERVIEW
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.— The Samford baseball team scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a one-run lead and then held on for the final two and a half innings for a 4-3 win at UAB Tuesday evening at Young Memorial Field.
 
“The best thing about tonight is we found a way to win,” Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. “We played fairly clean defensively and that turned out to be the difference in the game.”
 
In the win, Samford was led at the plate by Christiaan Durdaller, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Phillip Ervin was 2-for-5 with an RBI for the Bulldogs.
 
Freshman pitcher Parker Curry (1-2) earned his first collegiate win in the victory. Curry pitched 1.1 innings in relief, allowing no hits to pick up the win. Patrick McGavin, Eric Wright, Cole Limbaugh, Arthur Strauss and Andres Gracia also saw time on the mound for the Bulldogs.
 
“I threw pretty well,” Curry said. “I've had a couple of rough outings lately, bur I got in there and threw a lot of strikes. I came in and we scored two runs to take the lead and we had two guys throw great from there.”
 
UAB was led by Chase Davis, going 3-for-5 with an RBI. Cory Eller (2-2) pitched 1.1 innings in relief, giving up two runs on one hit to take the loss on the mound for the Blazers.
 
With Samford leading, 4-3, UAB threatened to score in the bottom of the ninth inning. With one out in the inning, Tyler Mims was hit by a pitch. Davis then singled, but was thrown out at second base, and Mims advanced to third base. John Frost then bunted down the third-base line, and Samford's Tommy Corbin fielded the ball and made a perfect throw to beat Frost by a step to preserve the win for the Bulldogs.
 
Samford struck first with a run in the top of the first inning. With one out in the inning, Ervin singled. With two outs, Ervin stole second base and moved to third on a UAB error. Ervin then scored on a wild pitch for a 1-0 Samford lead.
 
UAB tied the score with a run in the bottom of the second inning. Ivan De Jesus led the inning off with a double. After moving to third base on a ground out, De Jesus scored on a ground out by Jacob German to tie the score at 1-1.
 
The Bulldogs took the lead again with a run in the top of the third inning. With one out in the inning, Ervin reached base on an error. After moving to second base on a wild pitch, Ervin scored on a single by Durdaller for a 2-1 Samford lead.
 
The Blazers came back with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 3-2 lead. German singled to lead off the inning. With one out, Tyler Hamby reached base on a three-base Samford error and German scored on the play to tie the score. Davis then singled to drive in Hamby to give UAB the lead.
 
Samford came back with two runs in the top of the seventh inning to take the lead for good at 4-3. With one out in the inning, Richard Greene tripled to right-center field.  Danny Rodriguez walked and Zeth Stone was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Greene scored when Ervin reached base on a fielder's choice, and Rodriguez scored on the play on a UAB error to give Samford the lead.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 24-21 on the season. UAB drops to 17-29 with the loss. The win was Samford's eighth-straight over its cross-town rival.
 
Samford will return to action on Friday, May 3, when the Bulldogs open a three-game home Southern Conference series with UNCG. Friday night's series opener is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.