Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Samford sophomore Parker Curry drove in the game-winning run in the top of the ninth inning and earned the win on the mound as the Bulldog baseball team won at in-state rival Jacksonville State, 7-6, Tuesday evening at Rudy Abbott Field.
 
Curry singled to left field with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to drive in Heath Quinn to put Samford up 7-6. Curry had come in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning for the Bulldogs, giving him the win and improving his record to 2-0. Andres Gracia pitched the bottom of the ninth inning to pick up his seventh save of the season.
 
Curry was the seventh pitcher used by Samford, with the first three all pitching in the first inning. Cole Limbaugh, the third first-inning pitcher, came in with Samford down, 4-0. Limbaugh tossed 4.0 innings, allowing no runs on three hits to keep Samford in the game.
 
"As bad as the first inning was, I think Cole coming in and controlling it a little kind of gave us a little bit of life," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "I thought our guys did a good job of having some good at-bats, even when we didn't score runs. I thought our bullpen guys threw the ball really well after Cole."
 
For Samford at the plate, Caleb Bryson went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Quinn went 2-for-4 with one RBI. Tyler Filliben, Drew McWhorter, Brandon Powell and Curry drove in a run each as well for the Bulldogs.
 
Jacksonville State was led at the plate by Paschal Petrongolo, with a home run and two RBI. Chase Silvani went 2-for-5 at the plate for JSU. Tony Urban pitched 1.0 inning, giving up one run on three hits to take the loss and drop his record to 0-1 on the season.
 
Jacksonville State jumped on top first with four runs in the top of the first inning on just one hit. Griff Gordon singled to drive in Michael Bishop for the first run of the game. Andrew Bishop and Joe McGuire both walked with the bases loaded to drive a run each for a 3-0 JSU lead. Daniel Gaither hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Petrongolo for a 4-0 Gamecock lead.
 
Samford came back with three runs in the top of the third inning to cut the JSU lead to 4-3. Filliben singled to drive in Danny Rodriguez for Samford's first run of the game. Quinn hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in T.J. Dixon for the second run of the inning. Powell later singled to left field to drive in Filliben to bring Samford to within one run.
 
The Gamecocks added a run in the bottom of the fifth inning to push their lead to 5-3. Petrongolo led the inning off with a home run to center field for a two-run JSU lead.
 
Samford took the lead with three runs in the top of the seventh inning. McWhorter singled to drive in Tripp Martin for the first run of the inning. With the bases loaded, Bryson singled to drive in Quinn and Powell to give Samford a 6-5 lead.
 
Jacksonville State tied the game with a run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Petrongolo walked with the bases loaded to score Peyton Williams to make the score 6-6.
 
In the top of the ninth inning, Quinn singled up the middle to lead off the inning. With two outs, Frankie Navarrete doubled to right-center field, moving Quinn to third base. Bryson was then intentionally walked to load the bases. Curry then singled to left field to drive in Quinn for a 7-6 Samford lead.
 
Samford will return to action on Friday, when the Bulldogs open a three-game home Southern Conference series with Furman. The first pitch for Friday's series opener is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.