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CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Behind a solid pitching performance from senior Parker Curry on Friday, the Samford University baseball team built a 7-1 lead in the seventh inning, only to see it trimmed to 7-6 by The Citadel with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. The Citadel scored two runs in the final frame to make it close, but Samford's Wyatt Burns closed the door with a strikeout of Shy Phillips to secure the victory and tally his fifth save of the season.
 
"It was a good win for us tonight, but it nearly turned out to be a monumental loss," said Samford head coach Casey Dunn. "It would have been extremely tough to lose a game like that, a game that we controlled from pretty much opening pitch. We have to tip our hats to them. They scored five runs late without us helping them at all. There weren't errors or walks. They just got some good hits and scored some runs on us late."
 
With the win, Samford (28-22, 9-10 SoCon) put an end to its three-game Southern Conference losing streak. The Bulldogs also tallied their second straight victory of the week after pitching past UAB on Tuesday, 3-1.
 
On Friday, Samford's Curry (6-2) took control of the game early as the Bulldogs' senior hurler from Pelham, Alabama, only allowed one earned run in the six full innings of action. He tallied three strikeouts in the game as he peppered the strike zone with 65 strikes on 93 total pitches.
 
"I thought Parker did a good job for us tonight and he battled," said Dunn. "In last inning, I thought he started to hit a wall, but again, The Citadel hit the ball well. It wasn't like we were giving them anything. They just got hits, but Parker did a really good job for us and definitely put us in a great position to win the game."
 
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Curry started to wear down a bit as The Citadel opened the frame with three-consecutive base hits.
 
The Citadel (16-34, 6-13 SoCon) went on to score three runs in the inning to trim Samford's lead to 7-4. The Citadel's top offensive performers Friday were third baseman Barrett Charpia, designated hitter Steven Hansen and shortstop William Kenney. Charpia finished 3-for-4 at the plate with a run scored, while both Hansen and Kinney went 2-for-4 at the dish.
 
In the eighth inning, Samford's Burns breezed through the inning and quickly worked his way through The Citadel's lineup.
 
The Bulldogs' sophomore reliever also started the ninth frame as The Citadel opened the inning with back-to-back base hits. With runners on first and third, Samford was able to get the next two batters out, but The Citadel drove in a pair of scores via a groundout RBI to shortstop and a sacrifice fly to left field.
 
"The Citadel's a tough group and no matter what the reason, or when we play them, it always seems to be a dog fight," Dunn said. "This was a tough finish, but we also need to tip our hat to Wyatt. He was able to get that last out after a hard inning."
 
Next up, with the tying run at the plate, Samford's Burns struck out Phillips on three straight pitches to preserve the victory.
 
Samford scored a run in the top of the first inning as junior Heath Quinn blasted a two-out double and then scored as Austin Edens singled to left-center field. Quinn and Edens also homered in Friday's victory as Quinn upped his season total to 18 on the season, while Edens has now powered 17.
 
Heading into the weekend, Quinn was ranked second in the nation in home runs and Edens was tied for fifth place.
 
Quinn finished 3-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored and two RBI, while Edens turned in a 3-for-5 performance. Edens, Samford's talented sophomore slugger from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, added three RBI and a pair of runs scored.
 
The Bulldogs also received two-hit performances Friday from Alex Lee and Jared Watson. Additionally, Samford's T.J. Dixon and Hunter Swilling turned in base hits.
 
"Those guys looked good and I was pleased to see Hunter get a huge RBI hit there for us," said Dunn. "That was a huge run for our team and hopefully this will get him going for us. It was also big to see Heath get going tonight. He's been scuffling a bit lately, but if we can get Hunter and Heath going from this point on, then we have a chance to have a good club."
 
Samford and The Citadel will square off in the second game of this weekend's three-game set Saturday at 1 p.m. (CDT) as the teams resume the series at Joseph P. Riley, Jr., Park.
 
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