JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Led by a seven-RBI effort from John Anderson and six shutouts innings by Brody Westbrooks, the Samford Baseball Team topped ETSU 14-6 to clinch a series victory over the Bucs on Saturday afternoon.
The win marks Samford's seventh in a row and improves the Bulldogs' record to 13-10 overall and 2-0 in SoCon play. ETSU drops to 10-11 overall and 0-2 in league action.
The Bulldogs belted four home runs in the win, with Anderson leaving the yard twice and Stephen Klein and Garrett Staton both slugging a round-tripper. Through two games, Samford has knocked nine home runs while scoring 33 runs on 31 hits.
Anderson's seven RBI came on three hits with three runs scored. Stephen Klein recorded a team-high four hits and four runs scored to go along with two runs batted in.
Lucas Steele also scored three runs with three hits while clubbing a pair of doubles. Kaden Dreier drove in a pair of runs while Staton and Andrew Bennett each added an RBI.
Westbrooks (1-1) pounded the strike zone for six solid innings of work to earn his first win of the season. The junior righty struck out five batters while conceding just one walk and scattering six hits on a windy afternoon.
"The offense was great again today and we made a ton of big plays, but the story of this game was Brody on the mound," Head Coach Tony David said. "In these conditions with the wind gusting out, to go six shutout innings was just incredible. He has had to jump into this starter role and has been great. All our guys did a good job again today of attacking the strike zone."
Anderson's first blast of the day came in the top of the third inning when he smashed a 3-2 offering to left center to put Samford up 3-0. A pair of two-out fielding errors by the Bucs left the door open for Anderson to capitalize.
The Bulldogs doubled their lead in the top of the fifth when Anderson knocked his second homer of the game following a leadoff single by Klein and a double to left center from Steele.
Samford added another run in the top of the seventh on a bases-loaded walk by Dreier before ETSU answered with three runs on five hits in the bottom half of the inning. Ashton King got the inning going with a one-out triple, followed by RBI singles from Tommy Barth and Garrett Wallace, and an RBI double from Cody Miller.
The Bulldogs responded in their next at-bat tallying five runs on six hits to take a 12-3 lead. Staton led off the frame with his fifth home run of the season, followed by RBI singles by Anderson and Bennett, and a bases-loaded walk from Dreier.
Klein delivered the final blow for the Bulldogs with his third homer of the season, putting Samford up 14-3. The Bucs got a two-run home run by Wallace and a solo shot by Ryan McCarthy before giving way to the 14-6 final score.
"Our guys are playing well and with confidence," David said. "The non-conference schedule was challenging. We feel good about our lineup, and the guys have driven the ball well over the past week. John set the tone for us today with those two big swings. Series wins on the road are hard to come by in this league, so have a chance to get greedy tomorrow with a sweep."
Samford batted .366 (15-41) on the day and was once again able to get it done in big moments by batting .455 (10-22) with runners on base. The Bulldog pitching staff stepped up when it needed to, stranding 12 Buccaneer baserunners and holding them to a .182 (2-11) average with runners in scoring position.
The Bulldogs will play the third and final game of their weekend set at ESTU on Sunday, March 26. First pitch from Johnson City, Tenn. is slated for noon (CST).
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