CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Samford baseball team dropped a 9-4 decision in game two of a three-game series at Charleston Southern Saturday afternoon at the CSU Ballpark.
 
With the loss, Samford falls to 6-4 on the season. Charleston Southern improves to 8-4 with the win.
 
Garrett Howe went 2-for-5 with a run scored to lead Samford at the plate. Colton Ledbetter went 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Blake Bortak (0-2) pitched 4.1 innings, giving up six runs, five earned, on four hits to take the loss on the mound for the Bulldogs.
 
Charleston Southern was led by Hogan McIntosh, going 2-for-4 with three RBI. Connor Carter and Ryan Waldschmidt had two hits each as well for the Bucs. Kaleb Hill (2-1) tossed 5.0 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits to earn the win for Charleston Southern.
 
The Bulldogs struck first with a run in the top of the first inning. Howe scored from third base on a ground out by Ledbetter for a 1-0 Samford lead.
 
Charleston Southern tied the game with a run in the bottom of the second inning. Carter doubled to left-center field to drive in Waldschmidt to knot the score at 1-1.
 
Samford retook the lead with a run in the top of the third inning. Kaden Dreier singled through the right side of the infield to drive in Towns King for a 2-1 Bulldog lead.
 
The Bucs took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Tyrell Brewer singled up the middle to drive in Peyton Basler to tie the game at 2-2. McIntosh later singled up the middle to drive in Brewer for a 3-2 CSU lead.
 
Samford came back to take a 4-3 lead with two runs in the top of the fifth inning. Ledbetter doubled down the right field line to drive in Will David to tie the game. Kace Garner then singled to center field to dive in Ledbetter for a one-run Samford lead.
 
CSU added four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 7-4 lead. McIntosh drove in two runs in the inning, Jared Payne drove in one run, and Austen Izzio scored on a wild pitch for a three-run Charleston Southern lead. The Bucs made the score 9-4 in the bottom of the seventh on a pair of solo home runs by Hayden Harris and Waldschmidt.
 
The teams will conclude their weekend series with a game Sunday at 12 p.m. (CT).
 
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