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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- With one out and teammate Danny Rodriguez on first base, Samford trailed Alabama, 2-1, in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday when freshman catcher Ben Carrick blasted a deep two-run homer to left field to secure the walk-off victory and to defeat the Crimson Tide, 3-2, in front of a season-high 1,917 fans at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
"Ben's home run was huge and I have to give a lot of credit to Danny for also getting a big hit there in the ninth inning," said Samford head coach Casey Dunn. "That was a great win for us and I thought we swung the bats well. I know we only scored three runs, but we only struck out three times and we saw three of their pitchers that throw regularly for them, so I thought we did some good things tonight."
 
Samford (24-18) scored its first run of the game in the second inning to take an early 1-0 advantage in the in-state showdown. Alabama (24-18) then began chipping away at the lead by posting a run in the top of the seventh and then another score in the top of the ninth.
 
The Crimson Tide's Daniel Cucjen singled and scored on an RBI base hit from second baseman Cobie Vance in the ninth inning to tally what seemingly could have been the decisive run of the game. Samford's Tristan Widra (3-3) was then able to pitch out of the frame without any further damage to make the score 2-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth.
 
"I thought Tristan did a great job by coming back and getting two big strikeouts there in the inning to get out of the jam," Dunn said. "Tanner Cunningham was phenomenal. That was the best that he's thrown since he's been here and Jake (Greer) and Jack (Rude) both pitched well also. We only walked two guys all night that weren't intentional, so that was a great outing for us."
 
After Jared Watson flied out to center field to open the frame, Samford's Rodriguez battled through a great at-bat and rifled a full-count pitch through the right side of the infield and into right field.
 
With Rodriguez on first base, the Bulldogs' Carrick stepped into the batter's box and worked his way to a 2-2 count. On the next pitch, Samford's freshman from Charlotte, North Carolina, turned on a strike in the zone and sent the ball deep, and high, and ultimately way over the wall in left field for the game-winning blast.
 
Carrick's home run proved to be the first of his collegiate career.
 
During the uproar, Samford's Rodriguez and Carrick were both celebrating on the base paths and nearly crossed paths. Luckily, the Bulldogs' third base coach and Associate Head Coach Tony David was able to get their attention and keep them from running out of order. If they would have done so, it would have resulted in an out.
 
With its jubilant victory, Samford improved to 18-9 at home this season and snapped a nine-game losing streak to Alabama. The Bulldogs' 3-2 win proved to be their first triumph in the series since a 4-2 road victory on April 5, 2011.
 
"The atmosphere was great here tonight," said Dunn. "We had a lot of different groups from around campus all chip in and I think everybody put on a great show. It was definitely an outstanding atmosphere for our guys to play in front of. It was a great night across the board."
 
Samford's pitching staff turned in a brilliant outing Tuesday. The Bulldogs only allowed seven hits in nine innings and struck out eight Crimson Tide hitters. Jake Greer, Jack Rude and Tanner Cunningham all hurled two full innings of action, while Wyatt Burns and Tristan Widra both pitched an inning apiece.
 
Widra was credited with the victory after striking out two in the top of the ninth inning.
 
Alabama's Sam Finnerty (1-1) only retired one batter in the ninth frame before Samford's late offensive fireworks to win the game.
 
Carrick, the Bulldogs' hero and walk-off slugger Tuesday, finished 1-for-1 with two RBI at the dish, while Austin Edens led the team with a 2-for-4 performance. Samford's T.J. Dixon, Heath Quinn, Alex Lee, Jordan Fucci, Grant Colton and Troy Dixon all turned in base hits as well against Alabama.
 
The Samford University baseball team will next be in action Friday at 5 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs travel to Greensboro, North Carolina, for a high-profile, three-game weekend SoCon series against the first-place UNCG Spartans.
 
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