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CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The Samford University baseball team extended its winning streak to six straight games Friday as the Bulldogs rolled to a 9-4 road triumph against The Citadel Bulldogs in a key Southern Conference contest held at Joe Riley Park.
 
With the win, Samford (17-14, 5-2 SoCon) improved to 6-0 since March 25, and earned its fourth straight conference victory.
 
The Bulldogs will attempt to extend their winning streak to seven straight games Saturday against The Citadel (12-17, 3-4 SoCon) at 10 a.m. (CT). The contest was originally scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., but was moved up three hours due to expected rain storms in the area.
 
On Friday, Samford fell behind early 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning, but rallied to score the next eight runs to garner a lopsided 8-2 advantage heading into the bottom half of the sixth. The teams later traded runs down the stretch in the game as Samford held on for its decisive 9-4 triumph.
 
The Bulldogs' starting pitcher Cody Shelton (1-2) notched the victory on the mound after only allowing one earned run in 6.1 innings of action. Samford led 8-3 when he exited the game in the seventh stanza.
 
Senior Josh Rich closed out the victory for the Bulldogs as he pitched the final 2.1 innings of the contest and only allowed a single hit.
 
Offensively, eight of Samford's players earned hits Friday, while senior Austin Edens turned in a 2-for-5 performance with one run scored and three RBI. Edens proved to be one of four Bulldogs to tally multi-hit performances as Troy Dixon (2-for-5), Max Pinto (2-for-5) and Anthony Mulrine (2-for-5) also excelled at the plate.
 
The big blow of Friday's game occurred in the top of the third inning as Samford's Ayrton Schafer blasted his first home run of the season, a two-run shot, deep over the wall in left field. Schafer finished the contest 1-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and two RBI. His third-inning blast proved to be clutch as it gave the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead that they never relinquished.
 
Samford's Branden Fryman, Brooks Carlson and Taylor Garris also added key hits in the victory.
 
With its win Friday, Samford improved to 18-10 all-time over The Citadel. Samford has claimed the last two series, including a 2-1 record last season. In 2017, Samford won the first game 1-0 with The Citadel winning game-two 8-6. Samford notched the series with a 7-4 victory in the finale. The year before, Samford swept all three games 7-6, 5-4 and 11-7.
 
Samford and The Citadel will square off in the second matchup of this weekend's three-game set Saturday at 10 a.m. (CT) here at Joe Riley Park. The contest was originally scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., but was moved up three hours due to expected rain storms in the area.

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