Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
Updated Stats

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Samford University baseball team started its Southern Conference series against the ETSU Buccaneers with a doubleheader split Saturday as the Bulldogs earned a 6-3 triumph in the opener, but then dropped a 10-8 decision in the second road matchup held at Thomas Stadium.
 
Samford (28-22, 9-11 SoCon) and ETSU (23-26, 5-15 SoCon) will square off in the rubber game of the weekend series Sunday at noon (CT).
 
GAME ONE - - SAMFORD def. ETSU, 6-3
Samford's Cody Shelton (5-2) picked up his fifth victory of the season Saturday as he hurled 8.1 innings of three-hit baseball in the win. Shelton entered the ninth inning with a one-hit shutout, but ran out of gas in the final frame.
 
The Bulldogs' Wyatt Burns came in with one out in the bottom of the ninth to close the door with back-to-back strikeouts. Shelton tallied four strikeouts in the first 8.1 stanzas.
 
Samford garnered a 3-0 lead with two runs in the fifth and another score in the sixth. The Bulldogs then put the game out of reach with a three-run tally in the top of the eighth.
 
The rally started as sophomore right-fielder Jordan Fucci led off the inning with a single to center field. He then advanced to third as Taylor Garris ripped a double down the right-field line. Once Ayrton Schafer was intentionally walked to load the bases, true freshman catcher Anthony Mulrine made the Bucs pay with a two-run single to center field.
 
Mulrine finished the first game of the day with two RBI and a run scored as he finished 2-for-4 at the plate.
 
With Schafer on third, sophomore Troy Dixon drove in the Bulldogs' third run of the frame with an infield single. Dixon also notched a 2-for-4 performance and scored a run.
 
Samford accumulated 13 hits in Saturday's opener and finished with five players earning multi-hit games. Garris led the way with a 3-for-4 outing, while T.J. Dixon and Fucci both added a pair of base hits in the contest. The Bulldogs' Austin Edens and Schafer also registered key hits in the matchup.
 
All three of ETSU's runs were scored in the ninth inning.
 
GAME TWO - - ETSU def. SAMFORD, 10-8
The Bulldogs exploded for a six-run outburst in the top of the third inning to take an early 6-2 advantage in the nightcap. During Samford's rally, Schafer blasted his first of two home runs in the game, this one a no-doubter grand slam that flew well over the wall in left field.
 
Schafer, the Bulldogs' talented designated hitter from Collierville, Tennessee, powered his ninth and 10^th home runs of the season and finished the matchup with five RBI. After his grand slam in the third, Schafer followed with a solo shot in the top of the sixth.
 
Samford seemingly took a decisive 6-2 advantage in the third inning, but ETSU meticulously began to chip away at the Bulldogs' lead with scores in each of their next five at-bats. The Buccaneers tallied one run in the third, two in the fourth and then three scores in the sixth frame to garner an 8-6 advantage.
 
Schafer homered and Mulrine tripled in the sixth to tie the game at 8-8, but ETSU notched critical runs in both the sixth and the seventh innings to earn its decisive 10-8 advantage.
 
Samford's Hamp Skinner (1-1) only allowed one earned run in two innings on the mound, but was issued the loss Saturday.
 
The Buccaneers' Jamin McCann (4-2) notched the victory as he added four strikeouts in 3.2 innings of action. Connor Bartow came on in the seventh frame and finalized the game by hurling the final 2.2 stanzas of play. Bartow's save proved to be his first of the season.
 
Samford and ETSU will face off Sunday at noon (CT) in the rubber game of this weekend's key SoCon series. The Bulldogs' Stephen Jones will be getting the start in the contest.
 
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Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
Updated Stats