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Baseball Celebreation--2019 SoCon vs WCU
Todd Drexler/SESPORTSMEDIA.com
The Bulldogs celebrate after Sonny DiChiara's walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning.
4
Western Carolina WCU 21-31
5
Winner Samford SAM 40-17
Western Carolina WCU
21-31
4
Final
5
Samford SAM
40-17
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Western Carolina WCU 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 9 1
Samford SAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 5 8 1

W: Jones, Stephen (3-0) L: Snyder (2-4)

Game Recap: Baseball |

DiChiara's Walk-Off Homer Lifts Baseball To 5-4 SoCon Tournament Win Over Western Carolina

BOX SCORE (PDF)

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Samford freshman first baseman Sonny DiChiara hit a walk-off home run to left field in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift the No. 1-seeded Bulldog baseball team to a 5-4 win over No. 8-seeded Western Carolina in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament Wednesday morning at Fluor Field.
 
Samford fell behind, 4-0, in the sixth inning, but scored two runs in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth to force extra innings and set the stage for DiChiara's walk-off homer. The home run was DiChiara's 19th of the season.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 40-17 on the season, while Western Carolina falls to 21-31. Samford will play the winner of this afternoon's game between Furman and Mercer Thursday at 3 p.m. (CT), while Western Carolina will play the same game's loser Thursday at 8 a.m. (CT).


 
FROM THE BOX SCORE
  • DiChiara led the Bulldogs at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a home run and one RBI.
  • Branden Fryman went 2-for-5 with an RBI as well.
  • Stephen Jones (3-0), the last of six pitchers used by Samford, pitched the final hitless inning to earn the win on the mound for the Bulldogs.
  • Justin Sparks led Western Carolina, going 2-for-3 with two RBI.
  • Jack Snyder (2-4) came in to pitch in the bottom of the 10th inning to take the loss for the Catamounts.

 
SCORING SUMMARY
  • After the teams were scoreless over the first five innings, Western Carolina jumped on top with four runs in the top of the sixth inning. Daylan Nanny and Danny Bullock each had RBI singles for the first two runs. Sparks then drove in two runs with a single to give WCU a 4-0 lead.
  • Samford got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth inning when Fryman doubled down the left field line to drive in Max Pinto to cut the WCU lead to 4-1. Brooks Carlson followed with a single to center field to drive in Fryman, making the score 4-2.  
  • The Bulldogs scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to knot the score at 4-4. Sam Teague scored the first run on a wild pitch. Ayrton Schafer scored the tying run when Pinto reached base on a fielder's choice to force extra innings.
  • DiChiara led the bottom of the 10th inning, hitting a three-and-one pitch over the Green Monster in left field to give Samford the 5-4 victory.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Samford will now play the winner of the Furman-Mercer game Thursday at 3 p.m. (CT) in a winner's bracket game.
 
 
 
 
 
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