GREENVILLE, S.C. – The third-seeded Samford baseball team used another big offensive performance to take down the second-seeded Mercer Bears, 13-10, in a winner's bracket game at the Southern Conference Tournament Friday afternoon at Fluor Field.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 28-27 on the season. The Bulldogs will now take on the top-seeded Wofford Terriers Saturday at 11 a.m. CT. Mercer falls to 39-17 with the loss. The Bears will play again Friday night against The Citadel in an elimination game.
 
The win comes on the heels of an impressive 22-3 win over Western Carolina Wednesday night. Samford head coach Tony David talked about the offensive roll his team has been on so far in the SoCon Tournament.
 
"It's incredible," David said. "I do think a big part of it is this tournament and this venue. We talk about this tournament and how good we are in it in the first meeting of the year. I think our guys come here with the mindset that they can hit and do well here. It's just been big hit after big hit."
 
Kaden Dreier led Samford at the plate, going 4-for-6 with a home run and two RBI. Garrett Staton went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. Maurice Hampton Jr. also homered for the Bulldogs, going 2-for-5 with two RBI. Towns King went 3-for-5 with two doubles and one RBI for the Bulldogs.
 
"Kaden and Staton, those are the two guys that stand out," David said. "Other guys had big hits, both those are the guys that had big hits at really critical times. Staton's three-run homer with two outs after we failed to get a bunt down again was an enormous psychological moment."
 
Michael Ross (7-1) pitched 5.0 innings, giving up seven runs on seven hits and striking out eight batters to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Carson Hobbs tossed the final 4.0 innings, allowing three runs in five hits and striking out five batters to pick up his 10^th save of the season.
 
Mercer was led offensively by Angelo DiSpigna, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, two home runs and five RBI. Bill Knight also homered twice, going 3-for-5 with four RBI. Wesley Franklin (3-3) pitched two-thirds of an inning, allowing three runs on three hits to take the loss on the mound for the Bears.
 
Mercer jumped on top early with a run in the bottom of the first inning. With one out in the inning, Knight homered to left-center field to give the Bears a 1-0 lead.
 
In the top of the second inning, Will David led the inning off with a single. David later scored on an error to knot the score at 1-1. Staton later singled, and Dreier scored on an error on the play for a 2-1 Samford lead.
 
Mercer tied the score with a run in the bottom of the second inning. William Mapes doubled to left-center field to drive in Trevor Austin to tie the contest at 2-2.
 
The Bulldogs took the lead again in the top of the third inning. With two outs in the inning, Hampton belted a two-run home run to left-center field with David on base to give Samford a 4-2 advantage.
 
The Bears plated three runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 5-4 lead. DiSpigna homered to right-center field with Collin Price and Knight on base to give Mercer a one-run advantage.
 
In the top of the fifth inning, David led the inning off with a single to right-center field. Dreier then homered to left-center field to give the Bulldogs a 6-5 lead. King later singled up the middle to drive in Staton to make the score 7-5. Colton Ledbetter then singled up the middle to drive in Garrett Howe for an 8-5 advantage. King then scored from third base when Stephen Klein reached on an infield single to make the score 9-5.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Mercer's DiSpigna hit a two-run home run to cut the lead to 9-7. Samford's Staton then hit a three-run shot to left-center field to push the advantage to 12-7. In the bottom of the seventh, Mercer's Knight hit a three-run homer to left field to cut the Samford lead to 12-10.
 
Samford added an insurance run in the top of the eighth inning. Howe scored from third base on a ground out by Ledbetter to push the advantage to 13-10.
 
Samford's Saturday game against Wofford is set for an 11 a.m. (CT) start from Fluor Field. Fans can watch the game live on ESPN+ at the following link: WATCH LIVE.


 
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