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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- With the score tied at 6-6 and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday, ETSU's Hunter Parker placed a game-winning single down the third base line that scored Christian Bailey and lifted the homestanding Buccaneers to a 7-6 walk-off victory over the Samford Bulldogs in the decisive game of the Southern Conference series held at Thomas Stadium.
 
Parker's grounder, which was deemed to have crossed third base before bouncing in foul territory left of the bag, nearly prolonged Parker's ninth-inning at-bat against Samford's relief pitcher Wyatt Burns (4-1).
 
Burns entered the game for the Bulldogs in the bottom of the seventh inning with Samford (28-23, 9-12 SoCon) trailing ETSU (24-26, 6-15 SoCon) by a score of 6-4. He struck out four batters in 2.2 innings of action before Parker's controversial walk-off single.
 
With the Bucs' win, they claimed the weekend SoCon series, 2-1. The Bulldogs won the first game, 6-3, before falling short in Saturday's nightcap, 10-8.

Samford trailed ETSU, 6-4, in the top of the eighth inning when Ayrton Schafer roped a one-out single to right field. The Bulldogs' Anthony Mulrine then drew a walk as Schafer advanced to third on a wild pitch. Sophomore Troy Dixon followed with a walk of his own to load the bases before his older brother, senior T.J. Dixon, smacked a single to right field to score Schafer from third.
 
Next up, Samford's Branden Fryman sent a sacrifice fly to center field to score Mulrine and tie the game at 6-6.
 
Mulrine led the Bulldogs with three RBI on Sunday. He finished 1-for-3 at the plate and blasted a three-run, base-clearing double off the wall in left field in the sixth inning.
 
Samford's T.J. Dixon, Austin Edens and Schafer all notched two hits apiece in the contest, while Taylor Garris and Kevin Williams, Jr., also added base-knocks.
 
ETSU jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Buccaneers rallied for four runs in the fourth frame, as well as single tallies in the third and fifth stanzas.
 
The Bulldogs started their comeback bid with a single run in the fifth before Mulrine's three-score double made it a game again in the top of the sixth. Samford's two-run tally in the eighth knotted the matchup at 6-6.
 
Logan Gentry (2-1) proved to be the pitcher of record in the ninth inning and was awarded the win. ETSU's relief pitcher hurled the final 1.2 innings of the game for the Bucs.
 
The Samford University baseball team will next be in action Tuesday at 5 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs return home to Birmingham, Alabama, to square off against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in a key in-state showdown to be held at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
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Box Score
Updated Stats