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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University baseball team scored a combined 16 runs in the sixth and seventh innings Tuesday to turn a one-run deficit into a 20-6 home triumph against the Troy Trojans in an in-state matchup held at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
"This was a good win for us," said Samford head coach Casey Dunn. "We had a lot of different guys step up for us tonight and that's what we need. It's always good to get a win and this was definitely a nice one for us, but we still have a lot of work to do and we have to get ready to face a very talented team in Southern Miss this weekend."
 
With the win, Samford (8-5) improved to 7-3 at home and tallied its seventh double-digit scoring performance of the young 2016 campaign. The Bulldogs' 20 runs Tuesday proved to be their largest total of the season as Samford has outscored its opponents by a total of 113-50 in 2016.
 
The Bulldogs are averaging 8.7 runs per game this year and have scored at least 10 runs in seven of their 13 outings.
 
Troy (8-6) suffered its worst defeat of the 2016 campaign Tuesday. The Trojans, who opened their season with a seven-game winning streak and who recently topped Auburn on Friday, 4-3, had only allowed opponents to score as high as seven runs prior to facing Samford.
 
"Troy's a good team and I thought they did a pretty good job early on in the game," Dunn said. "They are a pretty pull-heavy group and I looked up after two innings and they already had eight hits, with seven of them going to the opposite field, so obviously they made some adjustments. I thought they did a nice job against Stephen (Jones), but then we were able to start chipping away at them."
 
Troy sent six pitchers to the mound and allowed 11 earned runs on 11 Bulldog hits. The Trojans walked 14 batters and committed a trio of three errors.
 
"I think we probably walked more tonight than we did all year," Dunn said. "We had a couple very good walks and I thought Austin (Edens) had a really good at-bat there when he started with an 0-2 count and worked it into a walk."
 
Samford scored 20 runs in a game for the first time since May 23, 2015, when the Bulldogs banged home 25 runs against Wofford to advance to the championship game of the SoCon Tournament, 25-4.
 
Senior second baseman Frankie Navarrete paced the team Tuesday with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate. The Bulldogs' speedy native of Miami, Florida, drove in four runs and scored a tally of his own versus the Trojans.
 
"I thought that we got some clutch hits when we needed them tonight," said Dunn. "Frankie did a really good job of hitting out there and so did Alex Lee. Those two guys definitely came through for us when we needed it."
 
Senior Alex Lee turned in a dominant outing against Troy as Samford's native of Heflin drove in four runs and scored three, while finished 2-for-4 at the plate. The Bulldogs' powerful first baseman smashed a 400-foot home run to deep center field Tuesday and also blasted a bases-clearing double off the wall in right field.
 
Samford trailed 2-0 in the second inning and 3-1 after three. The Bulldogs then tacked on a run in the fourth and two in the fifth to garner a 4-3 advantage heading into the sixth frame.
 
In the top of the sixth, Troy regained the lead with a pair of runs to make the score, 5-4, but then Samford sent 10 hitters to the plate and notched six runs to gain a 10-5 advantage in the bottom of the frame.
 
In the next inning, Samford one-upped itself by sending 15 batters to the dish and scoring 10 more runs to put the game out of reach at 20-5. Troy scored an unearned run in the top of the ninth inning to make the final score of the contest, 20-6.
 
Samford reliever Jack Rude came on at the beginning of the sixth inning and proved to be the pitcher of record as the Bulldogs started their outpouring of runs. With the victory, he improved to 1-0 this season.
 
Offensively, 11 Samford players reached base safely Tuesday, while Hunter Swilling, Heath Quinn, Jared Watson, Rob Perteet, Danny Rodriguez and Richard Greene all tallied base hits. Additionally, Quinn, Rodriguez and Greene notched two-RBI performances.
 
Samford's Quinn is currently the nation's leader in both home runs (8) and RBI (26) this season. Minutes prior to Tuesday's game, the Bulldogs' Greene was officially added to the Watch List for the 2016 Johnny Bench Award, which honors the nation's top catchers. Greene is batting .366 this season and is ranked eighth in the nation with eight doubles.
 
The Samford University baseball team will next be in action Friday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs begin a three-game road series against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles to be held at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
 
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