Box Score
Updated Stats

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Every single player in Samford's starting lineup registered a least one base hit Tuesday as the Bulldogs' baseball team powered its way to a 10-7 home victory against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in a nonconference in-state showdown held at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
"We had a lot of big hits tonight," said Samford head coach Casey Dunn. "That's the encouraging thing for us is that it wasn't just one or two guys, but it was completely all the way up and down the order that they got some big hits for us.
 
"I thought we had some great energy tonight and we need to take some of this with us to Greenville (South Carolina) as we open up SoCon play Thursday against Furman. We always seem to come out with plenty of life in our midweek games, so now we need to do the same thing on the weekends."
 
With the win, Samford (12-9) remained undefeated against in-state opponents this season and improved to 4-0 in rivalry games. Already this year, the Bulldogs have defeated UAB, 13-2, Troy, 20-6, Alabama State, 18-7, and Jacksonville State (13-6), 10-7.
 
In total, Samford has outscored its in-state foes by a count of 61-22 and has tallied at least 10 runs in every matchup.
 
In Tuesday's three-run victory over Jacksonville State, senior left fielder Jared Watson paced the Bulldogs' offensive attack with a near-perfect 4-for-5 outing at the plate. Watson, Samford's lightning-fast native of Jacksonville, Florida, also notched a pair of runs in the game, including a jaw-dropping sprint in the third inning when he scored all the way from first base on a single to right field.
 
With Watson's 4-for-5 performance at the plate, he improved his batting average on the season to .352.
 
On the play, Samford's Richard Greene earned his 14^th RBI of the season as the Bulldogs tied the game at 5-5.
 
The biggest hit of Tuesday's matchup occurred in the bottom of the fourth inning when junior Heath Quinn blasted a three-run homer to deep left-center field. After T.J. Dixon and Hunter Swilling opened the inning with back-to-back singles, Quinn put the game out of reach with his nation-leading 11^th home run of the young 2016 campaign.
 
Quinn finished the game 2-for-4 at the dish with three RBI and a run scored.
 
Samford made the score, 10-5, in the bottom of the fifth inning as senior Frankie Navarrete led off the frame with a single to left field and later scored on a single deep in the hole to shortstop from Swilling. The Bulldogs' Swilling turned in a brilliant 3-for-4 outing Tuesday with two RBI and a run scored.
 
Samford registered five multi-hit outings Tuesday as Austin Edens and Swilling both tallied three base hits apiece, while Dixon and Quinn turned in 2-for-4 days.
 
Dixon, the Bulldogs' talented junior from Mobile, also recorded two runs scored and notched one of the key hits of the game with a bases-clearing triple off the wall in right field. His third triple of the season tied the matchup at 4-4 in the bottom of the second inning.
 
"T.J.'s hit was huge there in the second inning," said Dunn. "His triple came at a big time and it really got us right back in the game when we needed it. He took advantage of a 3-1 pitch and definitely put a good swing on it."
 
Jacksonville State, which had its seven-game winning streak snapped Tuesday, opened the contest with three quick runs in the top of the first inning. The Gamecocks' Tyler Gamble and Hayden White both registered 3-for-5 performances at the plate, while Clayton Daniel and Josh Bobo both tallied two hits apiece.
 
All nine Samford starters earned at least one base hit in the game. Seniors Alex Lee and Danny Rodriguez both went 1-for-4, while Navarrete turned in a key 1-for-3 outing.
 
Samford's Mikhail Cazenave made the first start of his Bulldog career Tuesday and finished with a no decision. True freshman Stephen Jones (2-0) came on in the third inning and proved to be the pitcher of record as he only allowed one run on three hits in a trio of innings pitched.
 
"I thought Stephen Jones did a really good job," Dunn said. "He was much more aggressive out there and pitched with so much more confidence. Part of me wanted to let him stay in and see how far he could go in the game, but the other side of me knew that we needed to save him and have him rested for this week's big SoCon series at Furman. It was very encouraging to see Stephen pitch like that."
 
Sophomore Josh Rich pitched a clean ninth inning to earn his second save of the season for Samford. Also seeing the mound Tuesday were Jake Greer, Tanner Cunningham and Wyatt Burns.
 
"That was a great outing for Josh," said Dunn. "We talk a lot about how we use Parker (Curry) and try to get him in there to close out games. We know that he's going to get a lot of work, so hopefully Josh can also come on and continue to do a great job in some similarly competitive environments. Jacksonville State is a very good team and they have a really good offense, so for Josh to get the 1-2-3 save was big."
 
The Samford University baseball team will next be in action Thursday at 5 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs begin Southern Conference play on the road versus the Furman Paladins with the first of three games to be held at the Latham Baseball Stadium in Greenville, South Carolina.
 
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