BOX SCORE (PDF)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford baseball team opened its series with Western Carolina with an impressive 16-4 win Friday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
With the win, Samford improves to 35-15 overall and 15-4 in Southern Conference play. The 35 wins for Samford are tied with the 2012 team for the most regular-season wins in program history. Western Carolina falls to 18-26 overall and 7-12 in league games.
FROM THE BOX SCORE
- Jordan Fucci went 3-for-5 with a grand slam and five RBI to lead Samford at the plate.
- Branden Fryman went 3-for-4 with two RBI for the Bulldogs.
- Sonny DiChiara drove in three runs in a 1-for-4 performance.
- Samuel Strickland (7-2) pitched 6.0 innings, giving up no runs on three hits, and striking out eight batters without allowing a walk to earn the win on the mound for Samford.
- For Western Carolina, Jalen Jones went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
- Taylor Purus (3-4) pitched 5.1 innings, giving up 11 runs, eight earned, on eight hits to take the loss for the Catamounts.
SCORING SUMMARY
- Samford plated a run in the second inning, three more in the third and one in the fifth to take a 5-0 lead.
- Samford broke the game open with six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to make the score 11-0. Taylor Garris, Fryman and DiChiara drove in a run each in the inning. Anthony Mulrine and Garris scored on WCU errors, and Brooks Carlson scored on a wild pitch.
- After WCU plated two runs in the top of the seventh, Samford added five more in the bottom of the inning to make the score 16-2. Fucci drove in four of the runs with his grand slam to left field. Carlson also drove in a run as Samford took a 14-run lead.
- Western Carolina added two more runs in the top of the ninth inning to make the final score 16-4.
LOOKING AHEAD
Samford and Western Carolina will continue their series with a game Saturday. Due to expected inclement weather the game time has been moved up to 10:30 a.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
