Box Score LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Samford baseball team dropped game one of its series at 11^th-ranked Louisville, falling to the Cardinals by a score of 20-10 Friday afternoon at Patterson Stadium.
 
For Samford in the loss, Tripp Martin went 2-for-4 with a grand slam and four RBI. Drew McWhorter went 3-for-3 at the plate, while T.J. Dixon went 2-for-4 with two RBI, and Tyler Filliben went 2-for-4 for the Bulldogs.
 
Alex Ledford (3-1) pitched 4.0 innings, giving up nine runs, six earned, on 10 hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford. He recorded two strikeouts and allowed just one walk in the loss. Patrick Maronde, Phillip Flach, Charles Terry and Hunter Swilling also saw time on the mound for Samford.
 
For Louisville, Zach Lucas went 2-for-5 with two home runs and five RBI. Grant Kay went 3-for-4 with three doubles and five RBI. Jeff Gardner went 3-for-5 with two RBI, while Colin Lyman went 2-for-4 with three RBI and Danny Rosenbaum went 2-for-3 with two RBI.
 
Kyle Funkhouser (3-1) pitched 6.0 innings, giving up six runs on nine hits to earn the win on the mound for the Cardinals. Funkhouser struck out eight Samford batters, while allowing just two walks.
 
Louisville jumped on top with an unearned run in the bottom of the second inning. Lyman reached base on a Samford error with one out in the inning. Lyman later scored when Kyle Gibson reached base on a fielder's choice for a 1-0 Louisville lead.
 
The Cardinals added three runs in the third inning to push their lead to 4-0. Gardner singled to drive in Sutton Whiting for the first run of the inning. After Lucas reached base on another Samford error, Lyman singled to drive in Gardner and Lucas, both unearned runs, for a four-run Louisville lead.
 
Louisville plated five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to make the score 9-0. Kay doubled down the left field line to drive in Alex Chittenden and Cole Sturgeon for the first two runs in the inning. Gardner then singled to drive in Kay for a 7-0 lead. Lucas then hit a two-run home run to left field for a nine-run Louisville lead.
 
The Cardinals added two more runs in the fifth inning for an 11-0 lead. Kay doubled to drive in Chittenden and Whiting for an 11-run Louisville lead.
 
Samford got on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning with four runs to cut the Louisville lead to 11-4. Martin singled to lead off the inning. With one out, McWhorter doubled, moving Martin to third base. With two outs, Evan Holland singled up the middle to drive in Martin and McWhorter for Samford's first two runs in the game. Dixon later singled to drive in Holland and Caleb Bryson for the final two runs in the inning.
 
Louisville answered with seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Rosenbaum drove in two runs in the inning, while Whiting, Sturgeon, Kay, Lucas and Lyman drove in a run each. Samford pitchers allowed four walks and two hit batters in the inning as Louisville took an 18-4 lead.
 
Samford plated two runs in the top of the seventh inning to make the score 18-6. Heath Quinn and Richard Greene drove in the two runs in the inning for Samford.
 
The Bulldogs added four more runs in the top of the eighth inning to close to within eight runs at 18-10. Patrick McGavin, Frankie Navarrete and Dixon led the inning off with three-straight hits to load the bases. With one out, Martin hit a grand slam to center field to give Samford 10 runs in the contest.
 
Louisville added two final runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to make the final score 20-10. Lucas hit a home run to center field with Logan Taylor on base for the final two runs of the game.
 
With the loss, Samford drops to 11-6 on the season. Louisville improves to 13-4 with the win.
 
Samford and Louisville will continue their series with a game Saturday at 12 p.m. (CT). The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.