CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Samford baseball team dropped a 5-4, 10-inning decision at The Citadel in the second game of a three-game series Saturday afternoon at Joseph P. Riley Park.
The teams went to extra innings tied at 3-3. In the top of the 10
th inning,
Kaden Dreier and
Garrett Staton both walked to give Samford runners on first and second with two outs in the inning.
Garrett Howe then singled through the right side of the infield to drive in pinch-runner
Carson Eddy for a 4-3 Samford lead.
The Citadel, however, came back with two runs in the bottom of the 10
th inning for the walk-off win. Sawyer Reeves doubled to right-center field to drive in Wells Sykes to knot the score at 4-4. Travis Elliot then singled to center field to drive in Reeves for the game-winning run.
"This was a really good college baseball game," Samford head coach
Tony David said. "Our guys battled like crazy late. Howe had a big blast in the ninth to put us up and then again with a two-out hit in the 10th. But, that's as tough as it gets. Being one strike away two different innings from winning and coming up short is hard to digest."
With the loss, Samford falls to 24-24 overall and 10-7 in Southern Conference play. The Citadel improves to 23-26 overall and 3-14 in SoCon action.
"I loved our fight," David said. "We made them hit to beat us. Our guys will be ready to go tomorrow."
Samford was led at the plate by Howe, going 4-for-6 with a home run and three RBI. Staton and
Stephen Klein both went 2-for-4 with a double for Samford.
Carson Hobbs (1-4) pitched 1.2 innings, giving up three runs on three hits to take the loss for Samford.
For The Citadel, Tilo Skole and Sykes had three hits each. Reeves had a double and drove in two runs. Conner Cummiskey (3-0) earned the win on the mound for The Citadel, tossing 1.1 innings, giving up one run on one hit.
Samford jumped on top first with a run in the top of the second inning. Klein scored from third base when
Andrew Bennett reached base on an error for a 1-0 Samford advantage.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, The Citadel plated one run to tie the score at 1-1. Sykes scored from third base on a ground out by Reeves to knot the score.
The Citadel took the lead with a run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Skole scored on a Samford error to give the home Bulldogs a 2-1 advantage.
Samford answered with two runs in the top of the ninth inning to retake the lead. Staton reached on an infield single to lead the inning off. Howe then homered to right field to give Samford a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, The Citadel plated a run to knot the score at 3-3. Dylan Costa singled to left-center field to drive in Clay Wilson to tie the score and force extra innings.
Samford and The Citadel will conclude their series with a game Sunday afternoon. The game is set for a 12 p.m. (CT) start from Riley Park.
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