SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Samford Baseball Team battled hard but fell 13-11 in 10 innings at Wofford College on Saturday afternoon in game two of their Southern Conference series.
With the loss, The Bulldogs drop to 22-17 overall and 8-3 in SoCon play while the Terriers improve to 28-10 on the year and 7-4 in conference contests.
Jayden Davis led the Bulldogs at the plate for the second-straight day, driving in four runs on three hits with a three-run homer. John Anderson and Garrett Staton each also knocked three base hits, with Anderson scoring thrice and blasting his team-leading 11th home run in the game.
Lucas Steele and Garrett Howe each drove in a pair, with Steele knocking a two-run bomb and Howe slugging a two-RBI double. Kaden Dreier registered a hit and an RBI while Aaron Walton logged a pair of hits and an RBI.
Ben Petschke (3-2) shouldered the loss. The junior closer tossed the final 3.2 innings, giving up five runs on eight hits and striking out a pair.
Starting pitcher Brody Westbrooks labored through 5.2 innings of work, striking out eight and conceding six earned runs in the no-decision.
The Terriers drew first blood with a run on two hits in inning number one. Trey Yunger plated Ryan Galanie with a one-out single to left field, who reached base one batter earlier with a double to center.
Wofford added another run in the top of the second in the form of an Andrew Mannelly RBI double down the right-field line. Brice Martinez led off the frame with a single to right before being brought home by Mannelly's two-bagger.
Samford cracked the scoreboard and took the lead on a three-run homer by Davis in the top of the third, marking his second home of the series and fourth of the season. Bennett and Walton each knocked a one-out base hit to set the stage for Davis.
The Terriers answered right away by scoring three runs on three hits in the bottom of the third. Martinez accounted for the big blow in the inning with a two-run double while a stolen base turned throwing error brought in the inning's third run.
The Bulldogs trimmed their deficit to one in the top of the fourth courtesy of an RBI single from Dreier. Anderson reached base on a fielding error with one away before eventually being plated by Dreier's knock that made it 5-4.
Samford regained the lead in the top of the sixth inning on a two-run, two-out double by Howe. Walton followed suit with an RBI knock to right and later come around to score from second on an infield hit by Davis to put the Bulldogs up 8-5.
Wofford answered its next time up with five runs on five hits, with all five runs coming with two outs. A two-run single by Yunger, and RBI singles from Dixon Black, Cameron Gill, and Martinez accounted for the damage done in the bottom of the sixth.
The Bulldogs wasted no time with a rebuttal, using a monster two-run homer by Steele in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 10. Anderson followed Steele one batter later with a solo shot to put Samford up 11-10.
The Terriers tallied the game's tying run in the form of a solo home run by Yunger in the bottom of the eighth with one away, setting up an extra-inning battle. Black blasted the game-winning two-run home run with one away in the bottom of the tenth
"Today was a really good battle that didn't end the way we wanted," Head Coach Tony David said. "It was a roller coaster of a game filled with a ton of plays. Both teams had some uncharacteristic miscues, big plays, and big swings. The ball was flying out to center and right and those two swings late got us. We've got an opportunity to win a big series tomorrow. We have only used three arms, so I like where we are heading into tomorrow."
The Bulldogs and Terriers will play the rubber match of their three-game set on Sunday, April 23 at noon (CST) from Russel C. King Field.
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