Box Score BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford's Caleb Bryson hit a walk-off grand slam to cap a six-run ninth inning and give the Bulldog baseball team a 10-7 win in the final game of a three-game series against Valparaiso Sunday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
Samford entered the bottom of the ninth inning trailing, 7-4. The rally started when Heath Quinn walked with the bases loaded to bring in Frankie Navarrete to make the score 7-5. Drew McWhorter then reached on a fielder's choice to score Jared Watson to cut the Valparaiso lead to 7-6. Bryson came up with the bases loaded and two outs and crushed his first home run of the season to left-center field to give the Bulldogs their first win of the season.
 
The Bulldogs trailed 7-1 entering the seventh inning, but plated one run in the seventh inning and two runs in the eighth inning to make the score 7-4 and set the stage for the ninth-inning rally.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 1-2 on the season. Valparaiso drops to 2-1 with the loss.  
 
At the plate, Samford was led by Bryson, going 4-for-4 with a home run and a career-high seven RBI. The seven RBI are the most for any Samford player since David Schulze drove in seven runs at College of Charleston on Mar. 14, 2010.
 
Following Bryson for Samford, Quinn went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Tyler Filliben also went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Bulldogs.
 
Andres Gracia (1-0) pitched the final inning in relief, to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Alex Milazzo, Gage Pregno, Patrick McGavin, Mikel Belcher, Phillip Flach and Parker Curry also saw time on the mound for Samford.
 
Valparaiso was led at the plate by Spencer Mahoney, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Nate Palace and Karch Kowalczyk each homered for the Crusaders. Ben Mahar (0-1) pitched the final two-thirds of an inning, giving up six runs on three hits to take the loss on the mound for Valparaiso.
 
Valparaiso jumped on top first with a run in the top of the third inning. Andrew Bynum walked with the bases loaded to drive in Ray Bartolomucci for a 1-0 lead.
 
The Crusaders added three runs in the fourth inning to make the score 4-0. Kowalczyk led the inning off with a solo home run. Mahoney later singled to drive in Bartolomucci for the second run of the inning. The inning's final run was scored when Mark Johnson stole home.
 
Samford put its first run on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth inning. Bryson singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Filliben to cut the Valparaiso lead to 4-1.
 
Valparaiso plated three more runs in the top of the sixth inning. Palace hit a two-run home run to give the Crusaders a 6-1 lead. Chris Manning later doubled to drive in Mahoney to make the score 7-1.
 
Samford plated a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the score 7-2. After Filliben doubled to lead off the inning, he later scored from third base when Bryson flew out to left field.
 
The Bulldogs added two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to close to within three runs at 7-4. Hunter Swilling singled to drive in Quinn for the first run of the inning. Bryson then singled to drive in McWhorter for Samford's fourth run of the game.
 
Samford will return to action on Friday, Feb. 21, when the Bulldogs open a three-game series with Memphis at Joe Lee Griffin Field. Friday's series opener is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start.