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Anderson_VMI
Chase Cochran | Samford Athletics
17
Winner Samford SAM 23-19
7
VMI VMI 22-20
Winner
Samford SAM
23-19
17
Final
7
VMI VMI
22-20
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Samford SAM 2 0 1 0 4 2 7 1 0 17 14 1
VMI VMI 0 2 0 0 0 2 1 2 0 7 8 0

W: Cravey, Jacob (7-2) L: Nathan Light (3-2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Anderson’s Monster Night Leads Baseball to Series-Opening Win at VMI

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Junior infielder John Anderson drove in a game-high nine runs, including a pair of grand slams, to lead the Samford Baseball Team to a 17-7 Southern Conference win at VMI in their series opener on Friday evening.
 
The win improves Samford to 23-19 overall and 9-4 in league play while the Keydets drop to 22-20 overall and 6-6 in SoCon action.
 
Anderson went 2-4 on the night with a pair of runs scored and added an RBI sac fly in the first.
 
Jayden Davis, Josh Rodriguez, and Aaron Walton all also went yard on the evening, with Davis and Rodriguez each driving in a pair and Davis extending his current hitting streak to 25 games.
 
Garrett Staton scored a team-high four runs while Davis and Stephen Klein each cross home three times.
 
Jacob Cravey (7-1) surrendered just three earned runs over six innings while striking out six on the way to his seventh victory of the season. Alex Gaeto (1.1 IP) and Nicholas Angelakos (1.2 IP) combined to toss the final three innings of relief.
 
Samford wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, tallying a pair of runs in the top of the first. Anderson plated Staton, who led off the game with a double to center, with a sac fly to center for the game's first run. Lucas Steele followed Anderson with a two-out double down the left-field line to double the Bulldogs' lead.
 
The Keydets tied the game at two in the bottom of the second courtesy of a two-run bomb by Cole Jenkins but the Bulldogs retook the lead in the top of the third on a solo shot by Davis.
 
Anderson's firsr grand slam in the top of the fifth gave the Bulldogs a 7-2 advantage and marked his team-leading 13th home run of the season.
 
The Bulldogs added two more runs in the top of the sixth, with Walton launching his fifth homer of the year and Davis adding a two-out RBI single. VMI responded in the bottom half of the inning with a two-run shot by Justin Starke to trim Samford's lead to 9-4.
 
Samford put the game out of reach by scoring seven runs on three hits in the top of the seventh, with Anderson's second grand slam accounting for the big blow in the inning. Rodriguez knocked a two-run shot in the frame while Stephen Klein added an RBI hit batsman.
 
A wild pitch put Samford up 17-5 in the eighth inning but the Keydets added a pair on a two-run single by Jenkins in the bottom half of the inning.
 
Samford batted .368 (14-38) on the night, including a mark of .500 (8-16) with two outs. The Bulldogs accounted for six two-out RBI on the evening.

"It's great to get the first one again," Head Coach Tony David said. "Cravey did another really good job for us on a Friday night. We really swung the stew out of it throughout the line up. John obviously led us at the plate with the two grand slams. We really swung once we got into their bullpen. Angelakos came in late and just filled up the zone. Our guys played really good defense with the unique field conditions."
 
The Bulldogs and Keydets will wrap up their weekend series by playing a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 1:00 p.m. (CST).
 
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS:
 For the latest news and information on Samford baseball, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordBaseball (Facebook), @SamfordBaseball (Instagram), and @SamfordBaseball (Twitter). 
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