GREENVILLE, S.C. – Samford sophomore left fielder Colton Ledbetter set a Southern Conference Tournament record with nine RBI to lead the third-seeded Bulldog baseball team to a 22-3 win in seven innings over sixth-seeded Western Carolina in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament Wednesday evening at Fluor Field.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 27-27 on the season, and the Bulldogs advance to take on the second-seeded Mercer Bears Friday at 11:30 a.m. (CT) at Fluor Field. Western Carolina falls to 26-30-1 and the Catamounts will take on either UNCG or Wofford in an elimination game Friday at 3 p.m. (CT).
 
Ledbetter went 5-for-5 with a double, two home runs and nine RBI. Ledbetter was not the only Bulldog to have a big night. Will David went 4-for-5 with a home run and five RBI. Towns King went 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Maurice Hampton Jr. went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
 
"Ledbetter's stretch this last five, six, seven weeks has been incredible," Samford head coach Tony David said. "He's seeing it unbelievably well. I think since we've settled him in that three spot in the lineup, he's been consistently driving the ball. Will's one of the few guys we've got that's played in this tournament. We expect big things from Will at third base, but he's a clutch performer at the plate and he had a monster night tonight."
 
Jacob Cravey (5-3) pitched 4.0 innings, giving up three runs, just one earned, on four hits and striking out three batters to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Brody Westbrooks, Jacob Newman, Gene Hurst, Mason McCormack and Timmy Watkins also saw time on the mound for the Bulldogs.
 
For Western Carolina, Pascanel Ferraras went 2-for-2 with a home run and one RBI. Gavin Mortenson (5-9) tossed 2.1 innings, allowing 10 runs on eight hits to take the loss for the Catamounts.
 
Western Carolina jumped on top first with a run in the top of the first inning. Ferraras homered to left field to give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead.
 
Samford answered with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Ledbetter singled through the right side of the infield to drive in Garrett Howe to knot the score at 1-1. David then singled to center field to drive in Ledbetter and King for a 3-1 Samford lead.
 
In the top of the second inning, Western Carolina plated two more runs to tie the score at 3-3. Seth Graves hit a sacrifice fly to left field to drive in Bryson Parks for the first run of the inning. Zach Ketterman then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Brandon Butterworth with the game-tying run.
 
The Bulldogs took control of the game with 11 runs in the bottom of the third inning. David singled down the left field line to drive in King, and Ledbetter scored on an error on the play for the first two runs of the inning. Kaden Dreier then singled to drive in David and Stephen Klein, and Dreier later scored on an error. Hampton scored on a wild pitch, and then Ledbetter doubled to left field to drive in Howe and Garrett Staton. Klein then singled to drive in Ledbetter. David then hit a two-run home run to left field for a 14-3 Samford lead.
 
In the fourth inning, Hampton led the inning off with a solo home run to left field to give Samford a 15-3 lead. King then singled up the middle to drive in Blake Bortak for a 16-3 lead. Ledbetter then belted a three-run homer to right field to push the Samford lead to 19-3.
 
Ledbetter hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to make the score 22-3.
 
The Bulldogs' game against the Mercer Bears is set for Friday 11:30 a.m. (CT) from Fluor Field. The game can be seen live on ESPN+.


 
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