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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University baseball team tallied four home runs, 12 hits and drove in 11 runners Saturday as the Bulldogs played their way to a key 11-3 triumph over the Wofford Terriers to even the weekend Southern Conference series at 1-1 here at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
"The home runs were definitely a big factor in today's win, but for me the most encouraging thing was how we scored two runs there in the third inning without a home run," said Samford head coach Casey Dunn. "It was good to see us play a little baseball. We got a guy on, Danny (Rodriguez) laid down a great bunt, then Hunter (Swilling) moved the runner over and Heath (Quinn) got the sacrifice fly. I thought we played great baseball there in that inning."
 
The teams will square off Sunday at 1 p.m. (CDT) for the rubber game of the series.
 
Samford (17-14, 4-4 SoCon) received home runs from T.J. Dixon, Hunter Swilling, Austin Edens and Richard Greene on Saturday. The Bulldogs have now registered 40 home runs this season and entered the weekend ranked No. 5 in the nation in the category.
 
Swilling's blast proved to be a solo shot in the sixth inning, while both Edens and Dixon's homers both proved to be two-run pokes. Greene, the Bulldogs' senior catcher from right here in Birmingham, provided the biggest blow of the game as he powered a towering grand slam up and over the left-center field wall in the bottom of the fourth inning.
 
Greene's third home run of the season gave Samford a decisive 6-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth.
 
"That was a really big swing by Richard," Dunn said. "His numbers are actually a little deceiving at the moment. He's been struggling a little bit lately and I think frustration was starting to set in, so that hit was huge for him in a lot of ways."
 
Samford's Connor Radcliff (2-3) started the game on the mound and looked good in five full innings of action. The Bulldogs' true freshman out of Pelham High School, only allowed two earned runs on six hits and notched a trio of strikeouts. Radcliff did a noteworthy job of throwing key strikes and navigating his way through some critical innings.
 
"I really thought Connor threw the ball well," said Dunn. "He gave us five strong innings and did a nice job. I also thought Stephen (Jones) did well and Jack (Rude) struggled there for a second, but was able to battle through and get the zero in the ninth inning.
 
All three of Samford's pitchers Saturday proved to be true freshmen. Following Radcliff's solid start, Stephen Jones hurled three full frames of one-run ball and notched two strikeouts in only 36 total pitches. The Bulldogs' Jack Rude entered the game in the top of the ninth inning and worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam to lock down the victory.
 
"All three of our pitchers were freshmen on a conference Saturday and held a team to three runs, so that is definitely exciting in thinking about those guys," Dunn said.
 
Wofford (17-16, 2-6 SoCon) picked up nine base hits Saturday, but only scored three runs against Samford's young freshmen pitchers.
 
The Terriers' McClain Bradley and Max McDougald both registered two-hit outings at the plate, while Alec Paradowski, Brett Hash, Dylan May, Cody Miller and Kody Ruedisilli all finished with one hit apiece. Wofford scored its first two runs of the game in the top of the fifth inning to make the score 6-2. The Terriers later added a tally in the seventh stanza to trim Samford's advantage to 9-3.
 
The Bulldogs' Dixon, Swilling, Edens, Jared Watson and Danny Rodriguez all posted multi-hit performances at the dish Saturday. Edens went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, while Rodriguez also finished 2-for-4 at the plate and scored a run.
 
Samford's Dixon, Swilling and Watson all accumulated 2-for-5 lines against Wofford. In 31 games this season, the Bulldogs have notched at least 10 hits in 19 outings.
 
Additionally, Samford's Heath Quinn and Greene both added base hits, Greene's being the biggest of the game in the fourth inning.
 
The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning and then increased that advantage to 6-0 in the fourth. Samford added two more runs in the fifth, another in the sixth and capped it off with Dixon's two-run bomb in the eighth inning.
 
Wofford's Adam Scott (3-4) started Saturday's game on the mound and was handed the loss as he allowed five earned runs on eight hits.
 
"This was a good win for us today, but there's still quite a bit of pressure on us tomorrow," said Dunn. "We need to protect our home field and especially in conference play, you have to win your series' at home. The best thing about today is that we played well and gave ourselves an opportunity to win the series tomorrow."
 
This weekend's three-game SoCon set will conclude Sunday at 1 p.m. (CDT) as Samford and Wofford will square off in the third-and-final matchup of the series being held at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
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