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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University baseball team dropped a 6-5 decision to Western Carolina in the second game of a three-game Southern Conference series Saturday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Samford (25-18, 6-8 SoCon) was led in the game by Jordan Fucci, going 2-for-5 with a home run and one RBI. Taylor Garris went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Bulldogs. Brandon Fryman and Anthony Mulrine also drove in a run each for Samford.

Mikhail Cazenave (3-6) pitched 5.2 innings, giving up five runs on eight hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford. Hamp Skinner and Luke Corbin also saw time on the mound for the Bulldogs.

For Western Carolina (22-20, 11-6 SoCon), Bryson Bowman went 4-for-4 with a home run, a double and three RBI. Brett Pope went 3-for-5 for the Catamounts. Nobu Suzuki also homered for Western Carolina, driving in two runs in a 1-for-4 performance.

Tristan Baker (4-2) tossed 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on six hits to earn the win for the Catamounts. B.J. Nobles pitched the final inning to pick up his fourth save of the season.

Western Carolina jumped on top first with two runs in the top of the first inning. Bowman hit a two-run home run to left-center field with Brett Pope on base for a 2-0 Catamount lead.

Samford answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning to knot the score at 2-2. After T.J. Dixon reached base on an infield single to open the inning, Fryman tripled to right field to drive in Dixon for Samford's first run of the game. Garris later singled to drive in Kevin Williams, Jr. to tie the game.

The scored remained tied until the top of the sixth inning when Western Carolina plated three runs for a 5-2 lead. Suzuki hit a two-run homer with Pope on base for the first two runs of the inning. Matt Smith later doubled to center field to drive in Bowman for a three-run Western Carolina lead.

Samford came back with one run in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut the lead to 5-3. Ayrton Schafer walked to lead off the inning. Schafer later scored on a wild pitch to bring Samford to within two runs.

Western Carolina added a run in the top of the eighth inning to push its lead to 6-3. Bowman singled to left-center field to drive in Pope for the Catamounts' sixth run of the game.

Samford plated two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to close to within one run at 6-5. Fucci led the inning off with a solo home run. Mulrine later singled to left field to drive in Williams to make it a one-run game.

Neither team could score in the ninth inning and the game ended at 6-5, Western Carolina. The Catamounts' win evens the series at a game apiece, following Samford's 8-3 win Friday night.

Samford and Western Carolina will square off in the third-and-final game of this weekend's key SoCon series Sunday at 1 p.m. (CT) here at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

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