BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford baseball team dropped a 6-3 decision to in-state rival Jacksonville State Tuesday evening at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
With the loss, Samford falls to 17-17 on the season. Jacksonville State improves to 16-18 with the win.
Samford was led in the loss by
Colton Ledbetter, going 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and one RBI.
Garrett Howe and
Joseph Salvo also had two hits each for Samford.
Will Lynch (0-3) pitched 3.0 innings, giving up four runs, just three earned, on five hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford.
For Jacksonville State, Alex Strachan homered and drove in two runs in a 1-for-4 performance at the plate. Carson Crowe and Alex Carignan drove in two runs each for the Gamecocks. Tanner Jones (2-3) pitched 1.1 innings, giving up one run on two hits to earn the win for JSU. A.J. Causey pitched the final 2.0 scoreless innings to pick up his sixth save of the season.
Jacksonville State grabbed the lead early with three runs in the top of the first inning. Crowe walked with the bases loaded for the first run of the game. Carignan later singled to drive in two runs for a 3-0 Gamecock lead.
JSU added a run in the top of the second inning to push its lead to 4-0. Mason Maners scored from third base on a ground out by Crowe for a four-run JSU lead.
Samford plated its first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning. With one out in the inning, Ledbetter hit a home run to left field, his team-leading ninth of the season, to cut the lead to 4-1.
In the bottom of the third inning, Samford added another run to make the score 4-2.
Andrew Bennett singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Howe to bring Samford to within two runs.
The Gamecocks added to their lead with two runs in the top of the fifth inning. Strachan hit a two-run home run to left field for a 6-2 Jacksonville State lead.
Samford plated the game's final run in the bottom of the sixth inning to make the final score 6-3. Ledbetter scored from third base on a ground out by
Maurice Hampton Jr. for the final run of the contest.
Samford will play a three-game Southern Conference series at UNC Greensboro this weekend. The teams are scheduled to play Friday at 5 p.m. (CT), Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT) and Sunday at 12 p.m. (CT).
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