Box Score CASEY DUNN VIDEO INTERVIEW
ELON, N.C.— Samford senior outfielder Christiaan Durdaller went 3-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI to lead the Bulldog baseball team to a 6-4 win at Elon in the final game of a Southern Conference series Sunday afternoon at Latham Park.
 
Durdaller hit two, two-run home runs in the game, giving him a team-best 14 homers for the season. He also had an RBI single in the ninth inning for an insurance run for the Bulldogs.
 
“Those were huge hits,” Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. “The two home runs, obviously were big, but that two-strike, two-out single to knock in that extra run meant a lot.”
 
Behind Durdaller at the plate for Samford, C.K. Irby went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Zeth Stone, Phillip Ervin, Patrick McGavin and Tommy Corbin added one hit each for Samford in the win.
 
Cole Limbaugh (4-3) pitched 5.1 innings in relief, giving up one run on four hits to earn the win on the mound for Samford. McGavin started the game, pitching 3.1 innings, allowing three runs, just one earned, on one hit. Andres Gracia came in to get the final out in the ninth inning, picking up his third save of the season.
 
“We threw the ball extremely well, especially Cole,” Dunn said. “I can't say enough about him. I know Cole was pretty disappointed he didn't get the start today, but he responded as well as you could and really took the ball and took control of the game. He stranded a runner when he came into the game and was really dominant over the next three innings.”
 
For Elon, Wil Leathers and Chris King had a hit and an RBI each. Alex Swim also drove in a run for the Phoenix. Spencer Medick (6-6) pitched 6.2 innings, giving up five runs on seven hits to take the loss on the mound for Elon.
 
Samford grabbed the lead early with two runs in the top of the first inning. With two outs in the inning, Irby singled up the middle. Durdaller then hit a home run to center field for a 2-0 Samford lead.
 
Elon took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Ryan Kinsella walked, Joey Tomko reached base on an error and Tyler McVicar walked to load the bases with no outs. Swim then hit a sacrifice fly to left field to drive in Kinsella, and Tomko scored on the play on a Samford error to tie the score at 2-2. Leathers then doubled to drive in McVicar for a 3-2 Elon lead.
 
The Bulldogs came back to tie the score with a run in the top of the fifth inning. With one out, Austin Allison was hit by a pitch and then moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Stone. After Ervin walked, Irby singled to left field to drive in Allison to knot the score at 3-3.
 
Samford took the lead again with two runs in the top of the seventh inning. With one out in the inning, Ervin singled to left field. With two outs, Durdaller homered to left field, his second home run of the game, to give Samford a 5-3 lead.
 
The Bulldogs added a run in the top of the ninth inning to push their lead to 6-3. With one out in the inning, Stone singled and Ervin walked. With two outs, Durdaller singled to left field to drive in Stone for a three-run Samford lead.
 
Elon came back with a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to make the final score 6-4. Danny Lynch led the inning off with a pinch-hit single. With two outs, Casey Jones singled, moving Lynch to second base. King then doubled to drive in Lynch for the game's final run.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 26-26 overall and 11-15 in Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs need just one win in their final series of the season against Davidson to secure a spot in the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament. Elon drops to 27-27 overall and 18-11 in SoCon play with the loss.
 
Samford will return to action on Thursday, May 16, when the Bulldogs open a home Southern Conference series against Davidson. The teams will open the series with a doubleheader Thursday at 4 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.