BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University baseball team plated six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull away from Southeastern Louisiana on its way to a 10-4 win in the first game of a three-game series Friday evening at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 8-7 on the season. Southeastern Louisiana falls to 8-10 with the loss.
 
Colton Ledbetter went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI to lead Samford at the plate. Garrett Howe went 3-for-5 with one RBI, while Stephen Klein went 2-for-4 with a double and one RBI. Towns King hit a solo home run in a 1-for-3 performance at the plate.
 
Jacob Cravey started the game on the mound for Samford, pitching 6.0 solid innings, giving up two runs on five hits, and striking out seven batters without allowing a walk. Brody Westbrooks (1-0) got the win for the Bulldogs, tossing 1.0 hitless inning of relief.
 
"The headline for me is Cravey," Samford head coach Tony David said. "Just an incredible job out of the gate. He set the tone for us. We had a lot of great at bats early that we didn't show for. We only had three runs and I felt like we could have been up more, the wind kept us in the park at least twice in those first few innings. But we just had quality at bats, we finally strung together a bunch of hits tonight and did a great job."
 
For Southeastern Louisiana, Preston Faulkner went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Daniel Dugas (1-1) took the loss on the mound for the Lions, pitching a third of an inning in relief, allowing three runs on three hits.
 
Samford built a 3-0 lead with a run each in the first, second and fourth innings. Southeastern Louisiana, however, plated four runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 4-3 lead. With one out in the inning and the bases loaded, Westbrooks got SLU's Bryce Grizzaffi to ground into a double play to end the threat and keep the score at 4-3.
 
"Brody came in and delivered pitches," David said. "He got a big ground ball with the bases loaded, because that was the moment where it could have gotten away from us. He got the big ground ball, and we turned the big double play to get out of it."
 
Samford took control of the game with six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take a 9-4 lead. Ledbetter and Kaden Dreier drove in two runs each in the inning, while Howe drove in one run and Ledbetter scored on a wild pitch for Samford to take a five-run advantage.
 
The Bulldogs added one final run in the eighth inning to make the final score 10-4. Ledbetter singled through the right side of the infield to drive in Garrett Staton for the game's final run.
 
Samford and Southeastern Louisiana will continue their series with a game Saturday. The contest is set for a 2 p.m. start from Joe Lee Griffin Field.




 
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS
For the latest news and information on Samford baseball, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordBaseball (Facebook), @SamfordBaseball (Instagram) and @SamfordBaseball (Twitter).