BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Samford baseball team surrendered five runs in the final three innings as the Bulldogs dropped a 6-4 decision to Furman in the Southern Conference opener for both teams Friday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
"We did a poor job of executing on the mound and we did a worse job defensively," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "Not just the errors that were posted, but other plays we have to make. Give them credit for putting good swings on the baseball tonight. We just have to do a better job."
 
For Samford in the loss, Alex Lee went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Danny Rodriguez went 2-for-4, while Damon Waller went 2-for-3. Austin Edens drove in two runs in a 1-for-3 performance at the plate.
 
Mark Donham (2-1) pitched 1.1 innings in relief, giving up two runs, one earned, on two hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford. Alex Ledford started the game for Samford, surrendering three runs, just one earned, on seven hits. Ledford struck out five batters in the contest. Philip Flach also saw time on the mound for Samford.
 
Furman was led by Jordan Simpson, going 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and one RBI. Chris Ohmstede went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Matthew Quarles (2-1) pitched 1.2 innings, giving up no runs on three hits to earn the win for the Paladins. Elliott Warford picked up his second save of the season, tossing 1.1 innings, giving up no runs on one hit.
 
Furman got on the scoreboard first, plating a run in the top of the second inning. Simpson led the inning off with a home run to left field for a 1-0 Paladin lead.
 
Samford took the lead with three runs in the fourth inning. With two outs, Heath Quinn singled through the left side of the infield to start the rally. Quinn then advanced to third base on a Furman error. After Waller walked, Lee singled through the left side to drive in Quinn to tie the score at 1-1. After both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch, Edens doubled to right field to drive in Lee and Waller for a 3-1 Samford lead.
 
The Bulldogs added a run in the fifth inning to take a 4-1 lead. Rodriguez led the inning off with a double. He then moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by T.J. Dixon. Rodriguez then scored on a sacrifice fly by Watson for a three-run Samford lead.
 
Furman came back with two runs in the top of the seventh inning to cut the Samford lead to 4-3. Ohmstede singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Sky Overton and Brandon Elmy to bring Furman to within one run.
 
The Paladins took the lead for good with two runs in the eighth inning. Simpson doubled with one out and later scored when Elmy reached base on a Samford error. Overton later doubled to drive in Elmy for a 5-4 Furman lead.
 
Furman plated one final run in the top of the ninth inning. Blake Chisolm doubled to drive in Griffin Davis to give Furman a 6-4 lead.
 
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Rodriguez led the inning off with a triple. The next three batters, however were retired and the Paladins held on for the two-run victory.
 
As a team, Samford committed four errors, while Furman had two errors. Each team finished the game with 10 hits.
 
With the loss, Samford drops to 6-12 overall and 0-1 in SoCon play. Furman improves to 11-9 overall and 1-0 in SoCon games.
 
The teams will wrap up their series with a doubleheader Saturday. The first pitch for game one is scheduled for 12 p.m. (CST). Both games can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.