BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford center fielder Maurice Hampton Jr. homered twice and drove in four runs to lead the Bulldog baseball team to a 6-3 win over Missouri State in the second game of a three-game series Saturday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 13-11 on the season. Missouri State falls to 13-10 with the loss.
 
Hampton went 3-for-4 with the two home runs and four RBI to lead Samford at the plate. Blake Bortak (2-2) tossed 3.0 innings in relief, giving up two runs, just one earned on five hits to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Michael Ross started the game on the mound and pitched 5.0 strong innings, giving up no runs on two hits and striking out eight batters.
 
"The two stories of the day were, first, Ross, who was electric on the mound again today, a lot of strike outs, very little walks," Samford head coach Tony David said. "Coming off the hand injury last week we didn't know what we were going to get out of him today. And then the other story was Mo (Hampton). Mo has really been hitting the ball significantly better the last few weeks but hadn't had anything to show for it. Yesterday I didn't think was a good matchup for him, so he got back into it today and he took advantage of it."
 
For Missouri State, Will Duff went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Walker Jenkins went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Ty Blecha (1-1) took the loss on the mound for the Bears, pitching 1.0 inning, allowing two runs on no hits.
 
The Bulldogs took the lead first with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out in the inning, Garrett Staton singled up the middle. Hampton then homered to left-center field to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.
 
Missouri State plated a run in the seventh inning and another in the eighth to tie the score at 2-2. In the seventh inning, Jenkins reached base on a bunt single, driving in Duff to bring the Bears to within one run. In the eighth inning, Duff singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Drake Baldwin to tie the score.
 
Samford took control of the game with four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Carson Eddy scored the first run on a wild pitch. Andrew Bennett then scored on another wild pitch. Hampton later hit a two-run home run to left field with Garrett Staton on base for a 6-2 Samford lead.
 
Missouri State added one final run in the top of the ninth inning to make the final score 6-3. Jenkins scored on a ground out by Mason Greer for the game's final run.
 
Samford and Missouri State will conclude their series with a game Sunday. The game is set for a 12 p.m. start at Joe Lee Griffin Field.




 
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