BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford pitcher Michael Ross pitched 8.0 strong innings to lead the Bulldog baseball team to a 5-1 win over Mercer in the second game of a three-game series Friday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
With the win, Samford has a record of 26-26 overall and 12-8 in Southern Conference play, giving the Bulldogs sole possession of second place in the league standings. Samford also secures a series win, having taken Thursday's contest as well. Mercer falls to 38-16 overall and 11-9 in league action.
 
Ross (6-1) allowed just one run on four hits and struck out five batters in earning the win. Carson Hobbs pitched the final inning, retiring the Bears in order to close out the victory.
 
"I told our guys after the game, you just can't put into words what our pitching and defense has done to that prolific offense," Samford head coach Tony David said. "Today was Ross' turn, our one-two punch is pretty incredible out there. He was great. He did what he does, he throws strikes with multiple pitches, he pitches with command, he got after those guys. He only had to pitch in and out of trouble a couple of times. He did a great job. Also, a good job by Hobbs getting back in there after a tough Saturday last week to have, not just a clean inning, but a dominant inning."
 
For Samford at the plate, Garrett Howe went 3-for-3 with a triple and two RBI. Towns King went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI for the Bulldogs. Blake Bortak also went 2-for-4 for Samford.
 
"We finally got some big hits early," David said. "That's one thing that's escaped us lately. We had five two-out runs. Howie with the big triple to get things going and Towns really juiced that ball to left center. That last run was Towns hitting a ball to short and going hard out of the box immediately. If that's anything less than 100 percent he gets thrown out, and that was a big tack-on run at the end."
 
Mercer's Josh Farmer (6-2) pitched 5.1 innings, giving up five runs on nine hits to take the loss for the Bears. Collin Price drove in the Bears' lone run of the game.
 
Samford jumped on top with four runs in the bottom of the second inning. Howe tripled down the right-field line to drive in Garrett Staton and Maurice Hampton Jr. for a 2-0 Samford lead. King then homered with Howe on base to push the Samford lead to 4-0.
 
The Bulldogs added a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to make the score 5-0. Bortak scored from third base on an infield single by King to give Samford a five-run lead.
 
Mercer plated its lone run of the contest in the top of the eighth inning. Antonio Brown scored from third base on a sacrifice fly by Price to make the final score 5-1.
 
Samford and Mercer will conclude their series with a game Saturday afternoon. The game is set for a 1 p.m. start from Joe Lee Griffin Field. Admission to the game is FREE.




 
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS
For the latest news and information on Samford baseball, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordBaseball (Facebook), @SamfordBaseball (Instagram) and @SamfordBaseball (Twitter).