Box Score BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford baseball team plated 13 runs on 16 hits on its way to a 13-5 win over cross-town rival UAB Wednesday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
"I thought our guys came out and really swung the bats well," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "We hit a couple of balls out and had a couple of doubles mixed in there too. We had some really good at-bats."
 
For the game, the Samford offense produced three home runs, five doubles and a triple. Individually, Tyler Filliben went 3-for-5 with a double, a triple and three RBI. Hunter Swilling went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI. Drew McWhorter was 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and one RBI. Tripp Martin drove in four runs, going 1-for-2 with a home run. Heath Quinn also homered in a 1-for-4 performance. Jared Watson went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
 
Samford freshman pitcher Cody Pugh (1-0), in his first collegiate start, earned the win on the mound for the Bulldogs. He pitched 5.0 innings, allowing just one run on three hits. Pugh struck out six batters, while allowing just two walks.
 
"I thought Cody Pugh did a phenomenal job of setting an early tone for us," Dunn said. "That is something that we've struggled with the last couple of weeks, so to get a zero in the first inning and then to score behind it was great."
 
For UAB, Matthew Furuto went 3-for-3 at the plate. Matt Morse went 2-for-2 with an RBI for the Blazers. Sam Kelley (1-1) pitched two thirds of an inning, allowing six runs, five earned, on seven hits.
 
Samford jumped on top early with six runs in the bottom of the first inning. Watson and Filliben hit back-to-back singles to get things started. Martin then homered to left field for a 3-0 Samford lead. With one out in the inning, McWhorter singled and Brandon Powell doubled, moving McWhorter to third base. Swilling then doubled to drive in Powell and McWhorter to make the score 5-0. With two outs, Watson singled to drive in Swilling for a 6-0 Samford lead.
 
The Bulldogs added seven runs in the third inning to push their lead to 13-0. Swilling led the inning off with a double, and Caleb Bryson then singled to drive in Swilling for the inning's first run. T.J. Dixon then singled and Watson reached base on an error to load the bases. Filliben then hit a bases-clearing triple to make the score 10-0.  Martin hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Filliben for an 11-0 lead. Quinn then hit a solo homer to make the score 12-0. McWhorter followed with a solo home run of his own for a 13-0 Samford lead.
 
UAB put its first run on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning. Adam Smith singled to center field to drive in Mitch Williams to make the score 13-1.
 
The Blazers plated four runs in the top of the sixth inning to make the score 13-5. Jeff Schalk, Jacob Armstrong, Williams and Morse drove in a run each in the inning for UAB.
 
The win was Samford's ninth-straight over UAB. Samford improves its season record to 3-4 with the win. UAB falls to 8-1 with the loss.
 
Samford will return to action on Friday, Feb. 28, when the Bulldogs play host to Butler. The first pitch for Friday's game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.