Box Score CHARLESTON, S.C. – Samford pitcher Alex Ledford pitched 8.0-plus innings to earn the win as the Bulldogs opened Southern Conference play with a  5-3 win at The Citadel in the first game of a three-game series Friday night at Joseph P. Riley Park.
 
Ledford (4-1) allowed just three runs on four hits in earning the win. Andres Gracia came on in the ninth inning to get the final three outs and earn the save for the visiting Bulldogs.
 
"Alex was unbelievable," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "He just filled up the strike zone. The two innings where he gave up back-to-back walks, he pitched around it. A large part of that was because of him, along with the fact that we played phenomenal defensively."
 
Samford was led at the plate by Caleb Bryson, going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Brandon Powell went 2-for-5 with an RBI, while Hunter Swilling went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
 
For The Citadel, Ryan Kilgallen went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Bo Thompson hit a solo home run in a 1-for-3 performance. Logan Cribb (1-3) pitched 6.1 innings, giving up five runs on seven hits to take the loss on the mound for The Citadel.
 
Samford jumped on top first with four runs in the top of the fourth inning. Singles by Powell, Tyler Filliben and Heath Quinn loaded the bases with one out. Drew McWhorter then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Powell for the game's first run. Swilling then singled to drive in Filliben for a 2-0 Samford lead. Bryson then doubled to drive in Quinn and Swilling to make the score 4-0.
 
The Citadel came back with a run of its own in the bottom of the fourth inning. With two outs in the inning, Thompson hit a solo home run to left field to cut the Samford lead to 4-1.
 
Samford added a run in the top of the seventh inning to push its lead to 5-1. Swilling and Bryson had back-to-back hits to lead off the inning. Both runners then moved up a base on a passed ball. Swilling was then thrown out at home when Jordan Wren reached base on a fielder's choice. Powell then singled to drive in Bryson for a four-run Samford lead.
 
The Citadel plated two final runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to make the final score 5-3. Tyler Griffin and Andrew DeKerlegand had back-to-back hits to lead off the inning. Calvin Orth then reached base on a Samford error to load the bases. Griffin scored the inning's first run when Johnathan Stokes hit into a double play. Kilgallen then singled to drive in DeKerlegand to pull The Citadel to within two runs. Gracia, however, struck out Bailey Rush to end the threat and secure the 5-3 Samford win.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 12-9 overall and 1-0 in Southern Conference play. The Citadel falls to 9-13 overall and 0-4 in SoCon games.
 
The teams will continue their three-game series with a game Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT). The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.