BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford Bulldogs took advantage of a six-run seventh inning to clinch a comeback win against Columbia University on Wednesday, March 15 from Joe Lee Griffin Field.
Freshman outfielder Lucas Steele capped off the Bulldogs' monster inning by launching a three-run home run to right center with one away that proved to be the eventual game-winner.
Steele finished the night with four runs batted in on a pair of hits while Stephen Klein drove in two runs. Jayden Davis and Garrett Staton both scored twice and drove in a run, with Davis knocking a pair of hits.
Kaden Dreier added a pair of hits while John Anderson slugged his fourth home run of the season in the contest.
Alex Gaeto (1-0) was razor-sharp for the Bulldogs in relief, allowing just one hit over three innings and striking out four on the way to grabbing his first collegiate victory.
Ben Petschke (2) conceded just one hit over the final two innings to lock down his second save of the season.
Columbia struck first in the contest in the form of a Cole Fellows solo home run in the top of the second. The Bulldogs were quick to respond, taking advantage of a Lion wild pitch in the bottom of the second that brought home Drier to tie the game at one.
Following Anderson's home run in the bottom of the third that put Samford up 2-1, the Lions erupted for seven runs in the top of the fourth. Columbia went yard four times in the inning, taking advantage of a two-run homer by Weston Eberyly, a three-run shot by Miles Blackwell, and back-to-back solo blasts from Griffin Palfrey and Andy Blake to account for the damage.
Samford slowly chipped away at its deficit, using an RBI double from Klein in the fourth and a run-scoring single from Steele in the sixth to trim the Lion's lead to 8-4.
The Bulldogs led off the seventh with singles by Dreier and Andrew Bennett and a base on balls from Joseph Salvo to load the bases. RBI walks from Staton and Davis plated the frame's first two runs, followed by an RBI sac fly from Klein to make it a one-run game and set the stage for Steele's towering go-ahead home run with one out.
The combination of Gaeto and Petschke held Columbia to two base hits and faced just one over the minimum over the final five innings.
The Bulldogs batted .367 (11-30) on the afternoon, highlighted by a mark of .444 (4-9) with two outs.
"I'm proud of them for not pressing after having a lot of opportunities early again," Head Coach Tony David said. "The same thing happened yesterday. We had all kinds of base runners on in the first four innings. We called them in during the fifth inning and said 'today's the day where one really bad inning's not going to beat you. We've just got to grind out at-bats.'"
Samford Baseball will be back in action at home on Friday, March 17 when they welcome in UT Martin for the first contest of a three-game weekend series. First pitch from Joe Lee Griffin Field is slated for 6:00 p.m. (CST).
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