Box Score GAME HIGHLIGHTS

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The third-seeded Samford baseball team overcame an early three-run deficit to earn a 7-3 win over second-seeded Davidson Thursday evening in the second round of the Southern Conference Tournament at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 34-24 on the season. The Bulldogs advanced to the tournament semifinals where they will take on the winner of Friday's Wofford-Davidson elimination game. The Saturday contest is scheduled to start at 12 p.m. (CT)/1 p.m. (ET). If Samford wins Saturday's game, the Bulldogs will advance to the tournament title game. If the Bulldogs lose, the teams will then play a second game, with the winner advancing to Sunday's championship game.
 
Samford pitcher Parker Curry (7-2) pitched 4.0 innings in relief, giving up one run on four hits to earn the win on the mound for the Bulldogs. Jared Brasher pitched the first 2.1 innings, giving up two unearned runs. Mark Donham came in to pitch with two outs in the third inning. Samford trailed, 2-0, and Davidson had the bases loaded with one out, but Donham got Davidson's Ben Arkin to ground into a double play to end the threat. Andres Gracia pitched the final 1.0 inning to close out the win.
 
"What a great job all the way around by our guys," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "As good as Parker and Andres were at the end, I don't want to lose sight of the job Mark did coming in with the bases loaded and one out, and inducing the ground ball for the double play to keep them off the board and keep their lead where it was. All three of those guys were lights out coming out of the bullpen."
 
Offensively, Caleb Bryson went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and four RBI. Heath Quinn went 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBI. Tripp Martin also homered, going 1-for-4 with an RBI. Frankie Navarrete went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Bulldogs.
 
"Caleb gave his a big ride at a big time in the game," Dunn said. "Those were two big swings by Caleb and Tripp. I thought our guys battled and competed well. This was a huge win for us."
 
For Davidson at the plate, Daniel Gerow went 2-for-4. Forrest Brandt, Nathan Becker and Sam Foy drove in a run each for the Wildcats. Nick Neitzel (7-2) pitched 5.1 innings, giving up five runs, just one earned, on six hits to take the loss on the mound for Davidson.
 
Davidson grabbed an early lead with two runs in the top of the first inning. David Daniels struck out, but reached base on a passed ball to lead off the inning. Lee Miller then singled, moving Daniels to second base. With one out, Brandt was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Becker then walked, to drive home Daniels for the game's first run. Miller then scored when Foy hit a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 Davidson lead.
 
The Wildcats added a run in the top of the fifth inning to make the score 3-0. With one out, Ryan Lowe walked. Brandt then doubled to drive in Lowe for a three-run Davidson lead.
 
Samford took the lead with four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Navarrete singled to lead off the inning.  With one out, Jared Watson reached base on a fielder's choice and Navarrete advanced to third base on an error. With two outs, Quinn singled to right field to drive in Navarrete to cut the Davidson lead to 3-1. Bryson then hit a home run to left field to give Samford a 4-3 lead. The home run was Bryson's 10^th of the season.
 
Samford added a run in the bottom of the fifth inning. With one out in the inning, Martin homered to left field to give Samford a 5-3 lead. Martin's homer was his team-leading 11^th of the season.
 
The Bulldogs plated two more runs in the seventh inning to push their lead to 7-3. Drew McWhorter singled to lead off the inning. Quinn then tripled to drive in McWhorter for the inning's first run. Bryson then doubled to drive in Quinn for a four-run Samford lead.
 
Saturday's contest can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. Live streaming and live stats will also be available through links on the baseball schedule page at www.samfordsports.com.