Box Score GREENSBORO, N.C. ---- With a loss sending either Samford of Furman home Thursday morning, both teams battled to stay alive and continue their postseason.  One run in the sixth inning proved enough to clinch it as Samford held on to beat Furman, 1-0.
 
Samford (16-34) and Furman (27-27) had plenty of scoring opportunities but good pitching and defense limited their chances with the teams combining to leave 16 runners on base through the first six innings.  Furman's defense lapsed a bit in the sixth, allowing Samford to capitalize on two errors and ultimately take the lead. 
 
With the win, Samford becomes the first ever ninth-seed at the SoCon Tournament to win two games.  Shelby Scott threw 6.1 shutout innings as the starter to earn the win while Misha Aldridge came in to get the final two outs of the game and earn her first save of the season.
 
After a pair of great double plays to keep Furman scoreless in the first and second, Samford threatened in the bottom of the second, loading the bases with two away.  Megan Dowdy looked for a good pitch to hit on a 3-1 count but pulled a grounder to the second baseman who bobbled it but flipped it to first for the close putout to strand the bases loaded and keep it scoreless.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Caroline Seay reached off a fielding error to lead off the inning as it turned back to the top of the order.  After being sacrificed into scoring position, a fly ball kept her at second and a hard grounder to the shortstop should have ended the inning, but she bobbled it to give the Bulldogs new life with runners at the corners and two away.  A popup would leave them stranded however as the game remained scoreless heading to the sixth inning.
 
Furman made a late push in the top of the sixth, drawing a two-out walk and executing a perfect hit-and-run with the batter advancing to second on the play to put two in scoring position.  After a quick mound visit, the Furman batter was hit on the first pitch to load the bases.  A weak popup in foul territory got Samford out of the jam however as it remained scoreless through 5 1/2 innings.
 
Caitlin Bice, pinch-hitting for Scott, drew a walk to lead off the sixth and Aldridge followed that with a hard single through the left side, which ended Parker's outing in the circle for Furman.  Lauren Collier, the game's starting designated player, entered to pitch and struck out the first batter.  Rachel Bickert hit a grounder to the third baseman and a high throw pulled the first baseman off the bag, allowing her to reach base safely which loaded the bases with one away.  Seay grounded out to the second baseman but earned the RBI as Bice came home to put the Bulldogs up, 1-0.  Another grounder ended the inning but set up Samford for a 1-0 win if they could hold on in the top of the 7th.
 
Seay laid out for a spectacular play on a line drive for the first out of the inning, but back-to-back singles put the potential tying run in scoring position.  That ended the day for Scott in the circle as Aldridge entered in the save situation.  A popup in foul territory went for the second out and Kayla Shaffer positioned herself under a high fly ball for the final out as Samford held on to edge out Furman, 1-0, and advance in the SoCon Tournament.
 
Samford will continue postseason play tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET where they will play the loser of today's Georgia Southern and Western Carolina game.