CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Samford University baseball team plated five runs in the final three innings to come from behind for a 7-4 win in the second game of a three-game series at Western Carolina Saturday evening.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 16-16 overall and 3-2 in Southern Conference play. Western Carolina falls to 15-19 overall and 1-4 in league action.
 
"This was just a great all-around job by our guys tonight," Samford head coach Tony David said. "I felt like it turned a little late in game one (Thursday night). Scoring five runs and forcing them to use some better arms to finish it was big."
 
Samford was led in the win by Stephen Klein, going 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Towns King went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Garrett Howe and Andrew Bennett had two hits and an RBI each, while Garrett Staton also had two hits for the Bulldogs.
 
"We have not hit the ball the last couple of weeks the way these guys are capable," David said. "This was just a great job throughout the lineup at the plate. We had a couple of tough plays in the fifth, but overall we were spectacular again on defense."
 
Blake Bortak (3-2) pitched 4.1 innings in relief, giving up no runs on just two hits, while striking out five batters without allowing a walk to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Michael Ross started the game for the Bulldogs, tossing 4.2 innings, giving up four runs, just two earned, on four hits and recording four strikeouts to just one walk.
 
"Ross and Bortak need to own game two for us each week," David said. "We told them that heading into conference play. The tack on run in the ninth gave us more freedom to not use (Carson) Hobbs to close it and keep him fresh."
 
For Western Carolina, Will Prater went 2-for-4 with a triple and three runs scored. Immanuel Wilder went 2-for-2 with an RBI for the Catamounts. Gavin Mortenson (2-5) pitched 6.1 innings, giving up five runs on nine hits to take the loss for the Catamounts.
 
Western Carolina took an early lead with one run in the bottom of the first inning. Wilder singled through the right side of the infield to drive in Prater for a 1-0 Catamount lead.
 
Samford tied the score with a run in the top of the second inning. Klein hit a solo home run to right field to knot the score at 1-1.
 
The Bulldogs took the lead with a run in the top of the third inning. Staton scored from third base on a ground out by King for a 2-1 Samford lead.
 
Western Carolina tied the score at 2-2 with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Prater scored from third base on a ground out by Seth Graves to tie the score for a second time in the game.
 
The Catamounts took the lead with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Pascanel Ferreras scored on a wild pitch to make the score 3-2. Prater later scored on a Samford error to push the Catamounts' lead to 4-2.
 
Samford came back with four runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 6-4 lead. Colton Ledbetter scored from third base on a sacrifice fly by Bennett for the first run of the inning. Howe singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Maurie Hampton Jr. to tie the score at 4-4. King later singled to center field to drive in Staton for a 5-4 Samford lead. Howe later scored on a sacrifice fly by Klein for a 6-4 Samford advantage.
 
The Bulldogs added one run in the top of the ninth inning to push their lead to 7-4. Will David singled through the right side of the infield to drive in King for a three-run Samford lead.
 
The teams will conclude their series with a game Saturday afternoon. The game is set for a 1 p.m. (CT) start from Cullowhee, N.C.
 
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