BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Kaden Dreier homered twice and drove in seven runs in leading the Samford baseball team to a 10-5 win over Toledo in the third game of a non-conference series Sunday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
With the win, Samford earns the series sweep of Toledo, and the Bulldogs' record improves to 21-15 overall. Toledo falls to 15-20 with the loss.
 
Dreier went 3-for-4 with two home runs, including one grand slam, in his dominant performance. His seven RBI are a career high for the senior. Jayden Davis went 2-for-5 with an RBI at the plate, while Garrett Staton doubled and drove in two runs in a 1-for-5 performance. Aaron Walton contributed two hits, going 2-for-4 on the day.
 
Will Lynch (3-2) started the game on the mound, and tossed 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on two hits to earn the win for the Bulldogs. Alex Gaeto, Turner Thompson and Trey Sanders also saw time on the mound for Samford.
 
Toledo was led by Jason Williams, going 3-for-4 with a home run and one RBI. Mason Sykes also homered for the Rockets, going 2-for-5 with two RBI. Matt LeLito (1-3) took the loss for Toledo, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing five runs on four hits.
 
Samford jumped out to an early lead with four runs in the bottom of the second inning. Dreier hit his first home run of the day, this one a two-run shot to center field, to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead. Later in the inning, Staton doubled down the left field line, driving in Walton and Andrew Bennett, for a 4-0 Samford advantage.
 
In the third inning, Samford added a run to push its lead to 5-0. Dreier hit an RBI single to left field to drive in Garrett Howe for a five-run Samford lead.
 
Toledo plated two runs in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh to cut the Samford lead to 5-4. In the sixth inning, Trey Wright singled through the right side of the infield to drive in two runs. In the seventh inning, Sykes hit a two-run homer to left-center field to bring the Rockets to within one run.
 
Samford took back control of the game when Dreier hit his grand slam to left field to push the Samford lead to 9-4 in the seventh inning. In the eighth inning, Davis singled to center field to drive in Walton for a 10-4 Bulldog advantage.
 
Toledo's Williams hit a solo home run to left field in the top of the ninth inning to make the final score 10-5.
 
Samford will begin a nine-game road swing with a game at Auburn Tuesday evening. The game is set for a 6 p.m. start from Plainsman Park.


 
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