BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford baseball team slammed three more home runs and plated 11 runs on its way to an 11-4 victory over the Arkansas State Red Wolves Saturday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
Samford improves to 2-0 with the win. Arkansas State falls to 0-2 on the young season.
 
"We swung the bats well, I thought our approach was really good," Samford head coach Tony David said. "We saw some softer velocity today, relatively speaking and the guys did a really good job of staying back. We had a lot of quality at-bats. We put up some runs, we had some big hits and had a lot of hard-hit outs in there as well."
 
Samford also played well defensively. The Bulldogs turned three double plays in the contest.
 
"Defensively, we were who I think we can be," David said. "We turned multiple double plays, we made a lot of good plays. I think our pitchers are confident in our defense and feel good about pitching to them. Also, I really thought the crowd made a big difference again today. Our student crowds have been phenomenal and we really appreciate their support."
 
Maurice Hampton Jr. had a big game, going 3-for-4 with a triple, a home run and three RBI for Samford. Garrett Howe went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. Towns King went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBI as well for the Bulldogs.
 
Michael Ross (1-0) picked up the win for Samford, pitching 3.1 innings, giving up two runs on four hits. Blake Bortak and Alex Goff also pitched in the game for Samford.
 
Garrett Olson and Jacob Hager both homered to lead Arkansas State at the plate. Justin Medlin (0-1) took the loss for the Red Wolves, tossing 3.1 innings, giving up three runs on three hits.
 
After Samford plated a run in the bottom of the third inning for the game's first run, the Bulldogs added four more runs in the fourth inning to break the game open and take a 5-0 lead. Three of the fourth-inning runs came on a home run by Hampton.
 
After Arkansas State scored its first two runs in the top of the fifth inning, Samford added a run in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth to make the score 8-2.  Arkansas State scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning, and Samford plated three runs in the bottom of the inning to make the final score 11-4.
 
Samford and Arkansas State will conclude their series with a game Sunday. The contest is set for a 1 p.m. start from Joe Lee Griffin Field. Admission to the game is free.
 
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