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AUBURN, Ala. -- The Samford University baseball team scored six runs on four hits in the first inning of play Tuesday en route to a pivotal 7-6 road victory against the Auburn Tigers in front of 2,047 fans at Plainsman Park.
 
With the win, Samford (3-4) improved to 7-4 versus Auburn (7-2) since the beginning of 2011. The Bulldogs have also been victorious in each of the last two meetings held on the Plains.
 
Samford's T.J. Dixon started things off in the top of the first inning by leading off the game with a single to center field. Shortstop Branden Fryman then followed with another single to center before sophomore Troy Dixon roped a double into the gap in right-center field. On his drive, both T.J. Dixon and Fryman were able to score to give the Bulldogs a quick 2-0 lead.
 
Following a pair of walks drawn by Austin Edens and Ayrton Schafer, sophomore right fielder Jordan Fucci then earned a two-RBI single to extend Samford's advantage to 4-0.
 
The Bulldogs' last two runs of the opening frame were scored on a deep sacrifice fly to center field. With runners on second and third, Samford's Anthony Mulrine sent a high towering drive all the way to the warning track in center field. Auburn's Jonah Todd made the catch on the play, but Schafer and Fucci were both able to score from third and second base, respectively.
 
Samford finished Tuesday's victory with five players earning two-hit performances.
 
Senior T.J. Dixon posted a 2-for-3 outing with a run scored, while Troy Dixon and Fucci notched 2-for-4 games at the plate. Troy Dixon and Fucci both drove in a pair of runs against Auburn and combined for three runs scored.
 
Samford true freshmen Taylor Garris and Fryman, who have both been significant members of the starting lineup this season, turned in identical 2-for-5 performances at the plate. Fryman scored a run in the contest, while Garris added a huge RBI in the seventh inning.
 
After a five-run fourth inning from the Tigers, Samford was clinging to a 6-5 advantage in the top of the seventh frame when Troy Dixon and Schafer opened the stanza with back-to-back singles to center field. Auburn's relief pitcher Gabe Klobosits was then able to tally a pair of strikeouts, leaving Garris at the plate with runners on first and second and two outs.
 
Garris, the Bulldogs' talented freshman from Sarasota, Florida, connected on a 1-2 pitch and blistered a single up the middle to drive in Samford's much-needed seventh run of the game.
 
Auburn added a run in its last-gasp effort in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Bulldogs' Wyatt Burns was able to close out his third save of the season with a key strikeout of leftfielder Bo Decker.
 
Samford's Tristan Widra (1-1) earned the victory with a strikeout in 1.1 innings pitched. The Bulldogs used five pitchers Tuesday, including Burns' brilliant 2.2-inning performance to close out the win.
 
Auburn's Daniel Sprinkle (0-2) was issued the loss. He allowed six earned runs on four hits in a third of an inning.
 
None of Samford's runs allowed Tuesday were earned. All of the Tigers' runs were scored in the fourth inning following an error to open up the frame.
 
The Samford University baseball team will next be in action Friday at 4 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs return home to begin a three-game series against the Indiana Hoosiers to be held at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
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