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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University baseball team earned a key Southern Conference series win Saturday as the Bulldogs rallied late for three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning en route to a momentous 7-4 home triumph against The Citadel Bulldogs held at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
With the victory, Samford (21-15, 4-5 SoCon) clinched the three-game weekend series and improved to 13-5 when playing at home this season.
 
The Citadel (11-22, 3-6 SoCon) rallied to tie the contest at 4-4 with a trio of runs in the seventh and eighth innings, but Samford bounced back with three runs of its own in the bottom of the eighth for the triumph.
 
With the score knotted at 4-4, Samford's T.J. Dixon strolled to the plate with one out and runners and second and third. Dixon then dropped down a perfectly-placed suicide squeeze bunt to score Greg Mula from third base. Additionally, Dixon beat the throw to first base to give the Bulldogs runners on first and second and still one out.
 
During the next at-bat, The Citadel's Will Pillsbury (1-6) balked to move the runners over to second and third.
 
Branden Fryman, Samford's talented true freshman, who has started at shortstop in every game this season, then helped distance his squad from The Citadel as he roped a two-RBI single to left field. Fryman's base hit gave the Bulldogs' their decisive 7-4 lead as he finished 3-for-5 at the plate with four RBI and one run scored.
 
Samford's Austin Edens drove in a pair of runs Saturday with a clutch two-out single in the third inning. Edens' hit helped the Bulldogs jump out to an early 4-0 lead over The Citadel.
 
Sophomore second baseman Troy Dixon turned in a strong day Saturday with a 2-for-3 outing at the plate and two runs scored. T.J. Dixon, Kevin Williams, Jr., Jordan Fucci, Taylor Garris and Anthony Mulrine also earned hits in Samford's 11-hit day.
 
The Bulldogs' Wyatt Burns (3-0), who leads the nation with 12 saves this season, came in with a 4-1 advantage in the seventh inning, but allowed three earned runs as The Citadel climbed back into the game at 4-4.
 
Nevertheless, Burns found his groove in the ninth inning and shut down The Citadel after Samford garnered its 7-4 lead. He was awarded the win for his performance.
 
The Bulldogs' Jesse McCord started the game and only allowed one earned run in 5.2 innings of action. He struck out five hitters and limited The Citadel to a trio of base hits.
 
Coming up, Samford will take a break from midweek nonconference contests and next be in action April 21 at 5 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs travel to Spartanburg, South Carolina, for an important three-game conference series against the Wofford Terriers.
 
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