BOX SCORE (PDF)
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Samford baseball team closed its regular season with a 9-1 win at ETSU Saturday afternoon at Thomas Stadium.
With the win, Samford improves its record to 39-17 overall and 19-5 in league games. ETSU falls to 32-19 overall and 11-12 in league games. Samford's 19 SoCon wins tie with the 2012 team (19-11) for the most SoCon wins since joining the league in 2009, and they are the most league victories since the SoCon schedule dropped to 24 games in 2015. The 39 overall wins are the most regular-season wins in school history, and are just two wins away from tying the school record for complete season wins of 41 by the 2012 team.
FROM THE BOX SCORE
- Taylor Garris went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI to lead Samford at the plate.
- Preston Moore went 3-for-4 with a double and one RBI.
- Sonny DiChiara drove in three runs, including a two-run home run in a 1-for-4 performance.
- Jordan Fucci also homered and drove in one run, going 1-for-5.
- Hamp Skinner (1-2) pitched 3.0 innings in relief, allowing just one hit to earn the win on the mound for Samford.
- Cullen Smith drove in ETSU's lone run in the game.
- Colby Stuart (3-3) pitched 4.0 innings, giving up two runs on three hits to take the loss for the Bucs.
SCORING SUMMARY
- Samford took an early lead with two runs in the top of the second inning. Fucci got the scoring started with a solo home run to left field. Moore later singled to drive in Anthony Mulrine for a 2-0 Samford lead.
- ETSU cut the Samford lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the second inning when Sean Kearney scored on a sacrifice fly by Smith.
- Samford plated three runs in the top of the sixth inning to push its lead to 5-1. Ayrton Schafer singled to drive in Fucci for the first run of the inning. Garris later singled to drive in Schafer. The final run of the inning was scored by Garris off a sacrifice fly by Max Pinto.
- In the top of the seventh inning, DiChiara hit a two-run home run and Garris delivered an RBI single to make the score 8-1.
- In the top of the eighth inning, Branden Fryman scored on a sacrifice fly by DiChiara to push Samford's lead to 9-1.
LOOKING AHEAD
Samford will enter next week's Southern Conference Tournament, which begins Wednesday in Greenville, S.C., as the league's No. 1 seed. The full bracket with pairings and times will be released later tonight.