BOX SCORE (PDF)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford baseball team secured its first Southern Conference regular-season championship with a 4-2 win over Western Carolina in the team's final home game of the season Sunday evening at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
With the win, Samford improves to 37-15 overall and 17-4 in Southern Conference play. The regular-season title is the first for Samford since winning the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season crown in 2006. Samford posted a record of 25-7 in home games this season, including a 12-0 mark in SoCon home contests. Western Carolina falls to 18-28 overall and 7-14 in league games.
FROM THE BOX SCORE
- Jordan Fucci led Samford at the plate, driving in four runs, going 1-for-2, including a three-run home run.
- Jesse McCord (5-1) pitched 5.0 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and striking out five batters to earn the win on the mound for Samford.
- Stephen Jones picked up his SoCon-leading 13th save of the season, pitching the final inning and allowing just one hit.
- For Western Carolina, Justice Bigbie went 3-for-5 with an RBI.
- Ty McCulloch (1-4) pitched 5.0 innings, giving up three runs on six hits to take the loss for the Catamounts.
SCORING SUMMARY
- Samford jumped out to an early lead with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Fucci hit a three-run home run to left field, his 13th of the season, to give Samford an early 3-0 lead.
- Western Carolina plated its first run of the game in the fifth inning when Bigbie singled to drive in Jalen Jones to cut the Samford lead to 3-1
- The Catamounts added another run in the sixth inning to make the score 3-2. Andrew Bullock hit a sacrifice fly to left field to drive in Daylan Nanny to bring WCU to within one run.
- Samford added one final run in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the final score 4-2. Fucci hit a sacrifice fly to left field to drive in Branden Fryman for a two-run Samford lead.
LOOKING AHEAD
Samford will travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. The Bulldogs will wrap up the regular season with a three-game SoCon series at ETSU Thursday, Friday and Saturday.