Box Score
Updated Stats

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University baseball team couldn't quite get its offensive attack in full swing Sunday as the Bulldogs were limited to a pair of hits in the first five innings of play as the Jacksonville University Dolphins earned a 9-2 victory in the decisive matchup of a three-game weekend series held at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
"I thought we came out with a lot of energy early in the game, but once we got down, we seemed to lose a lot of our fight," said Samford head coach Casey Dunn. "This was a tough weekend. We need to regroup at this point and try to get better on Tuesday before it all starts for real on Thursday."
 
After winning Friday's opening game of the series, 8-5, Samford (11-9) dropped game two on Saturday, 7-2, and then suffered a 9-2 decision Sunday. With their series loss, the Bulldogs moved to 8-5 when playing at home this season.
 
"Following Friday, losing these last two games has really been disappointing," Dunn said. "I thought Jacksonville had a good game plan after that first game on now to pitch us and we really didn't adjust. We didn't strike out much. We were putting balls in play, but we really weren't driving the ball and taking aggressive swings, especially in plus counts."
 
With the victory, Jacksonville (13-6) improved to 4-2 in road games this season. The Dolphins have also been triumphant in seven of their last 10 outings.
 
Jacksonville jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead as Parker Perez led off the game with a walk and later scored an unearned run following a sacrifice fly from Austin Hays. Samford starter Connor Radcliff (1-3) should have been out of the inning without any damage, but he committed a two-base error on an errant throw to first base on a pickoff play.
 
Radcliff, the Bulldogs' true freshman right hander from Birmingham, pitched three full innings and struck out four Dolphins. He allowed three hits and four total runs, only three of which were earned.
 
Jacksonville's offensive attack was paced by Hays, Nathan Koslowski and Mike Cassala on Sunday. All three Dolphins tallied two hits apiece, while Hays scored three runs and added a pair of RBI. Koslowski also finished with a pair of RBI as Cassala homered in the third inning to jumpstart a three-run rally.
 
Following another three-run outburst in the top of the fourth, Jacksonville held a 7-0 advantage over the Bulldogs.
 
"We have some things to work on," said Dunn. "We need to pitch much better. We were also poor offensively, but we were probably equally as poor on the mound. All around this weekend, we just didn't get the job done."
 
Both of Samford's runs were tallied in the bottom of the sixth inning as junior Hunter Swilling powered a long home run over the fence in left field. The Bulldogs' Hunter Quinn opened the frame with a single up the middle and scored on Swilling's round-tripper.
 
Swilling and Quinn proved to be two of six Bulldogs to register base hits Sunday. Joining Samford's Preseason All-American duo were Frankie Navarrete, Austin Edens, Jared Watson and Rob Perteet.
 
After allowing two runs in the bottom of the sixth, Jacksonville answered with runs in each of the seventh and ninth innings to make the final score of the matchup, 9-2. The Dolphins' nine runs scored marked the most runs allowed by Samford in a single game this season.
 
The Bulldogs sent seven pitchers to the mound and combined to strike out eight. Radcliff led the team with four Ks, while Josh Rich added two in a pair of innings. Jack Rude and Caleb Maggio both notched one apiece.
 
Jacksonville's Spencer Stockton (3-0) only allowed two earned runs on four hits and remained undefeated on the mound this season. He tallied four strikeouts in the contest.
 
The Samford University baseball team will next be in action Tuesday at 6 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs remain at home for a highly-anticipated, in-state duel against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks to be held at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
For quick score updates, breaking news and links to all of your favorite articles featuring the Bulldogs, please follow @SamfordBaseball and @Samford_Sports on Twitter.

Box Score
Updated Stats