BOX SCORE (PDF)
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The top-seeded Samford baseball team was eliminated from the Southern Conference Tournament with a 4-3 loss to fourth-seeded Mercer Saturday evening at Fluor Field.
With the loss, Samford falls to 41-19 on the season. Mercer improves to 33-27, and the Bears will take on Wofford in Sunday's championship round.
FROM THE BOX SCORE
- Sonny DiChiara and Max Pinto each hit solo home runs for Samford in the loss. DiChiara's homer was his 21st of the season, tying him for the second most in a single season in Samford history.
- Jordan Fucci went 2-for-4 at the plate.
- Hamp Skinner (1-3) pitched 3.2 innings, giving up one run on five hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford.
- Mercer was led by Angelo DiSpigna, going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
- Bill Knight went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Bears.
- Jackson Kelley (2-1) pitched 6.0 innings, giving up one run on four hits to earn the win on the mound for Mercer.
- Nick Spear picked up his ninth save of the season, tossing the final 3.0 innings, giving up two runs on four hits.
SCORING SUMMARY
- Mercer took an early lead with one run in the top of the second inning. Jordan Ammons doubled to right-center field to drive in DiSpigna for a 1-0 Mercer lead.
- The Bears added three runs in the top of the fifth inning to push their lead to 4-0. Knight singled to drive in Trevor Austin for the first run of the inning. DiSpigna then hit a two-run double for a four-run Bears lead.
- Samford got on the scoreboard when DiChiara belted a home run to left-center field in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut the Mercer lead to 4-1.
- Pinto hit a solo homer to left-center in the bottom of the eighth inning to make the score 4-2.
- Samford plated one final run in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Bulldogs could get no closer and the game ended in a 4-3 Mercer victory.
LOOKING AHEAD
The loss ends Samford's 2019 season.