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CULLOWHEE, N.C. -- The Samford University baseball team scored 11 runs on 12 hits Sunday as the Bulldogs exploded for an 11-4 triumph on the road against the Western Carolina Catamounts in a key Southern Conference series finale held at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium.
 
With the victory, Samford (30-23, 14-7 SoCon) reached the impressive 30-win plateau for a fifth straight season, including its eighth in nine years. The Bulldogs have also been triumphant in six of their last eight games.
 
Samford will close out its regular-season schedule this week with a trio of home games against VMI. The three-game series will be held Thursday through Saturday, with the opener slated to begin at 6 p.m.
 
On Saturday, fans are encouraged to arrive early as the Bulldogs will be holding their annual Senior Day Presentation approximately 15 minutes prior to the scheduled noon (CT) first pitch.
 
At the end of five innings Sunday, Western Carolina (7-42, 5-19 SoCon) held a 4-3 advantage over the Bulldogs. The Catamounts jumped out to the lead following three early home runs off the bats of Spencer Holcomb, Cameron Blaquiere and Bryson Parks.
 
Western Carolina's lead proved to be short-lived as Samford quickly answered with two runs in the top of the sixth inning to garner a 5-4 advantage. The Bulldogs also scored a pair of runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth frames to close out the 11-4 victory with eight unanswered tallies.
 
Samford's Brooks Carlson continued his dominance at the plate Sunday as he finished 2-for-3 with three RBI, three runs scored and his team-leading eighth home run of the season.
 
Carlson, the Bulldogs' impressive true freshman from Mobile, Alabama, is the reigning SoCon Player of the Week, and closed out the series with a .462 batting average, eight RBI, four runs and two homers.
 
Samford's Troy Dixon and Austin Edens also registered two-hit performances. Edens finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored in the victory, while Dixon turned in a 2-for-5 outing with two RBI and a run.


On Sunday, the Bulldogs' Ayrton Schafer blasted his fifth home run of the season. Samford's power-hitting sophomore from Collierville, Tennessee, finished 1-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored.
 
The Bulldogs' Ryan Crockett, Sam Teague, Anthony Mulrine, Taylor Garris and Max Pinto all added key base hits in the win.
 
On the mound, Samford's Wyatt Burns (5-3) pitched the final 4.2 innings of the contest, a season-high total, to earn the victory. The Bulldogs' senior, who is the school's all-time leader in saves with 29, struck out five and only allowed three hits in yet another dominant performances.
 
Burns owns a 1.44 earned run average this season and has accumulated 67 strikeouts in 50 innings on the mound.
 
Samford's Erin Baldwin started the game and pitched the first 4.1 innings. He also struck out five Catamounts in the contest.
 
Western Carolina's Taylor Purus (2-11) was issued the loss after allowing five runs on six hits in six innings of action.
 
The second-place Samford University baseball team will next be in action Thursday at 6 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs begin a momentous three-game home series against the fourth-place VMI Keydets in a key matchup that will certainly have a number of SoCon Tournament implications on the line.
 
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