LEXINGTON, Va.—The Samford baseball team defeated VMI, 10-5, in the third game of a three-game Southern Conference series Sunday afternoon at Gray-Minor Stadium.
 
With the win, Samford wins the series, two games to one. The Bulldogs improve to 11-14 overall and 4-2 in SoCon play. VMI falls to 6-14 overall and 2-4 in league games.
 
"This was a good win," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "They competed against us. I thought they had as good of at-bats against Parker (Curry) as anybody has all year. They really made him fight. I thought Tristan (Widra) came in and competed well. Andres (Gracia) came in and struggled in the eighth, but really was solid in the ninth."
 
Parker Curry (3-3) pitched 7.0 innings, giving up four runs on nine hits to earn the win for Samford. Curry struck out five batters, while allowing just two walks. Andres Gracia picked up his fifth save of the season, tossing the final 1.2 innings without allowing a hit.
 
For Samford at the plate, Heath Quinn went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. T.J. Dixon went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Hunter Swilling and Austin Edens had a three-run home run each in the game.
 
VMI was led offensively by Matt Winn, going 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI. Jacob Jaye also went 2-for-4 for the Keydets. Jordan Tarsovich hit a home run, going 1-for-4 for the Bulldogs. Matthew Eagle (0-3) pitched 4.0 innings, giving up eight runs on five hits to take the loss on the mound for VMI.
 
Samford jumped out to an early lead, plating two runs in the top of the first inning. With one out in the inning Swilling reached base on an error. Quinn then hit a home run to left-center field for a 2-0 Samford lead.
 
The Bulldogs added three more runs in the top of the second inning, pushing their lead to 5-0. With two outs in the inning, Dixon reached base on an error, and Jared Watson was hit by a pitch. Swilling then hit a home run to left field for a five-run Samford lead.
 
VMI plated two runs in the bottom of the third inning to cut the Samford lead to 5-2. Tyler Tharp doubled to left field to drive in Will Malbon for the Keydets' first run of the game. Tarsovich scored the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Winn.
 
Samford added to its lead again with three runs in the top of the fourth inning. Dixon led the inning off with a bunt single. With two outs, Quinn walked. Edens then homered down the left-field line for an 8-2 Samford lead.
 
VMI came back with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Will Connerley singled up the middle to drive in Brandon Angus to cut the Samford lead to 8-3.
 
The Keydets added a run in the seventh inning and another in the eighth to close to within three runs at 8-5. With one out in the seventh inning, Tarsovich hit a solo home run for the lone run in that inning. In the eighth inning, David Geary was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in Winn for VMI's fifth run of the contest.
 
Samford plated two final runs in the top of the ninth inning. Richard Greene singled to drive in Frankie Navarrete for the first run of the inning. Dixon then singled to drive in Alex Lee to make the final score 10-5.
 
Samford will host a pair of midweek games this week. The Bulldogs will host Auburn Tuesday night at 6 p.m., and Alabama A&M Wednesday evening, also at 6 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.