BOX SCORE (PDF)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford baseball team opened its first Southern Conference series with Furman with an 8-4 win Friday evening at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
With the win, Samford improves to 15-6 overall and 1-0 in Southern Conference play. Furman falls to 5-14 overall and 0-1 in league contests.
FROM THE BOX SCORE
- Sonny DiChiara went 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and two RBI to lead Samford at the plate.
- Anthony Mulrine went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI.
- Branden Fryman went 3-for-5 with two runs scored for the Bulldogs.
- Kaden Dreier homered and drove in two runs in a 1-for-3 performance.
- Samuel Strickland (4-1) pitched 6.0 innings, allowing three runs, just one earned, on four hits to earn the win for Samford.
- Connor Radcliff picked up his second save of the season, tossing the final 2.0 innings, allowing just one hit.
- For Furman, John Michael Boswell went 2-for-5 with two RBI.
- Matt Lazzaro (0-3) pitched 5.1 innings, allowing seven runs on 10 hits to take the loss on the mound for the Paladins.
SCORING SUMMARY
- Furman jumped on top first with a run in the top of the first inning. Boswell singled to left field to drive in Jabari Richards, who had tripled earlier, for a 1-0 Furman lead.
- Samford bounced back with four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Mulrine and Dreier each hit two-run homers in the inning to give Samford a 4-1 lead.
- Furman plated two runs in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Samford lead to 4-3. Banks Griffith scored on a sacrifice fly by Richards, and David Webel scored on a ground out by Boswell.
- Samford added a run in the bottom of the fifth to push its lead to 5-3. Taylor Garris singled to drive in Fryman for a two-run Samford lead.
- The Bulldogs plated two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to make the score 7-3. DiChiara hit a solo home run, and Ayrton Schafer later doubled to drive in Jordan Fucci for a four-run Samford lead.
- In the bottom of the seventh inning, DiChiara hit a solo homer to push the Samford lead to 8-3.
- Furman added one final runs in the top of the eighth inning to make the final score 8-4. Boswell scored when Logan Taplett hit a sacrifice fly for the game's final run.
LOOKING AHEAD
Samford and Furman will continue their series with a game Saturday afternoon. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start from Joe Lee Griffin Field.