Box Score GAME HIGHLIGHTS

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford baseball team completed a season sweep of the Auburn Tigers with a 7-6 win Tuesday evening at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
"We needed a win," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "I thought our kids competed like champs. We made the plays and we made the pitches when we had to."
 
Parker Curry (3-2) pitched 1.2 innings in relief, without allowing a hit to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Curry struck out three batters, while allowing one walk. Andres Gracia pitched the final 1.1 innings to pick up his Southern Conference-leading 11^th save of the season.
 
"Andres was huge in the ninth for us," Dunn said. "I thought Parker did a great job, and Cody Pugh got us off to a good start."
 
At the plate for Samford, Caleb Bryson hit a three-run home run in a 1-for-3 performance at the plate. Tyler Filliben went 2-for-3 with a triple and an RBI. Heath Quinn went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Bulldogs.
 
For Auburn at the plate, Ryan Tella went 4-for-5 with one RBI. Damek Tomscha went 2-for-5 with an RBI, while Jordan Ebert drove in two runs, going 1-for-4 at the plate. Justin Camp (1-5) pitched 2.2 innings, giving up six runs on four hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford.
 
Samford jumped out to an early lead with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. With one out in the inning, Jared Watson walked. Filliben then tripled to right-center field to drive in Watson for the game's first run. Drew McWhorter then doubled to left-center field to drive in Filliben for a 2-0 Samford lead.
 
The Bulldogs added four more runs in the third inning to push their lead to 6-0. With two outs in the inning, Filliben was hit by a pitch and advanced to second base on a balk. Filliben then scored when McWhorter reached base on an Auburn error. After Quinn singled to left field, Bryson hit a three-run home run to left field for a six-run Samford lead.
 
Auburn came back with four runs in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Samford lead to 6-4. With runners at the corners and one out, Tella reached base on a bunt single, driving in Brett Binning for Auburn's first run of the night. Damon Haecker later scored on a sacrifice fly by Ebert for the second run of the inning. Tella later scored when Tomscha reached base on a Samford error. The final run of the inning was scored when Connor Short was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score Daniel Robert and pull Auburn to within two runs.
 
The Tigers added another run in the top of the sixth inning to make the score 6-5. Ebert singled up the middle to drive in Anfernee Grier for Auburn's fifth run of the contest.
 
Samford plated a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to push its lead to 7-5. Tripp Martin doubled to lead off the inning, and moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Richard Greene. Martin then scored on a wild pitch to give Samford a two-run advantage.
 
Auburn added one final run in the top of the eighth inning. Tomscha singled up the middle to drive in Ebert to make the score 7-6. Gracia then came in to get the final out of the eighth inning to end the threat. Gracia held Auburn scoreless again in the ninth to close the game out.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 22-15 on the season. Auburn drops to 21-17 with the loss. Samford won both meetings between the two teams this season. The Bulldogs also defeated the Tigers, 8-1, on April 1, in Auburn.
 
Samford will return to action on Friday, April 18, when the Bulldogs travel to Statesboro, Ga., to take on Georgia Southern in a SoCon series. The teams are scheduled to play Friday at 5 p.m. (CT), Saturday at 1:30 p.m. (CT) and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (CT).