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GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Samford University baseball team advanced to the championship game of the Southern Conference Tournament for the fifth time in eight seasons Saturday as the second-seeded Bulldogs registered a convincing 10-3 victory over the fifth-seeded Mercer Bears in an intense matchup held at Fluor Field.
 
With the win, Samford (35-24) advanced to Sunday's championship game where the Bulldogs will face Mercer (38-21) again for the title. The Bears defeated Western Carolina, 10-2, in an elimination game late Saturday evening. Sunday's title game is slated to begin at 11 a.m. (CT). Were Samford to lose the first matchup, the "if necessary" game is scheduled to begin approximately 40 minutes after the conclusion of the first contest.
 
Samford scored five runs in the fifth inning before an out was recorded to take a lead it would not relinquish in the win. Trailing 2-1 heading into the fifth, the Bulldogs took advantage of three hit batters, an error, a walk and a pair of singles to turn the tide.
 
After a hit batter, an error and a walk loaded the bases, Brooks Carlson and Ayrton Shafer were hit by pitches in consecutive at bats to put the Bulldogs on top. Connor Burns followed with an RBI single and Anthony Mulrine hit a two-run shot up the middle to make it a 6-2 affair.
 
Mercer got a run back in the bottom half on Le Bassett's sacrifice fly, but the Bulldogs answered with Carlson's two-run double in the sixth and plated two more runs in the seventh to blow the game open.
 
Samford relief pitcher Josh Rich (6-5) starred in the contest as he registered a season-high nine strikeouts in 5.2 innings of action. The Bulldogs' senior right-hander entered the game in the fourth frame and only allowed one unearned run on two hits in the contest.
 
Fellow-senior Erin Baldwin started for Samford and hurled 3.1 innings. He tallied four strikeouts and only allowed two earned runs.
 
Two-time First-Team All-SoCon reliever Robert Broom (10-4), who was the league leader with a 1.41 ERA entering the contest, notched the first start of his career for the Bears and pitched 4-plus innings. Broom was charged with three runs (two earned) on three hits, two walks and a hit batter. Seven of his 12 outs recorded came via strikeout.
 
One of the hits Broom allowed was a 401-foot solo home run to right center by Samford's Troy Dixon in the third inning, which was the first run allowed by Mercer in the tournament. The Bears had outscored their first two opponents 34-0 in a pair of mercy-rule wins.
 
Mercer took its only lead of the contest on the fourth, as Jackson Ware led off with a single up the middle and Bassett followed with a home run over the Green Monster in left field to make it 2-1.
 
Samford's Rich closed out the game for the Bulldogs, including a strikeout stretch of seven out of nine hitters from the sixth through the eighth innings. He secured the victory by getting Brandon Michie to strike out swinging to end the contest.
 
Samford's Mulrine went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs to lead the Bulldogs, while Dixon and Carlson had two hits apiece. Samford totaled 11 hits as a team.
 
Eight different batters accounted for Mercer's eight hits, with Bassett driving in all three runs.
 
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