LEXINGTON, Va. – The Samford Baseball Team clinched a Southern Conference series victory at VMI with a doubleheader split on Saturday afternoon, taking game one 9-7 in 11 innings and falling 8-7 in game two.
The split brings Samford's record to 24-20 overall and 10-5 in conference play. VMI now sits at 23-21 overall and 7-7 in SoCon action.
Today was an incredibly intense day of baseball stretched over 20 innings," Head Coach
Tony David said. "Neither team would quit. Gave ourselves a chance with runners in in the 9th."
GAME ONE
John Anderson led the Bulldogs at the plate with a three-hit, two-RBI performance highlighted by the go-ahead two-run home run in the top of the 11th. Jaden Davis and
Kaden Dreier each launched a two-run homer, with Davis extending his hitting streak to 26 games.
Garrett Howe and Josh Rodriguez each scored two runs and knocked a pair of hits, with Howe also driving in one.
Stephen Klein also added a pair of hits while
Aaron Walton drove in a run.
Ben Petschke (4-2) tossed the final four innings of relief to log the win, striking out eight batters and giving up just two runs. Starter
Brody Westbrooks conceded four runs over six innings and struck out six while
Turner Thompson added an inning of one-run relief.
The Keydets drew first blood, courtesy of a leadoff home run by Ty Swaim in the bottom of the
first.
Samford answered its next time up by plating five runs on six hits. Howe brought in Steele, who led off the inning with a double to left, with an RBI single up the middle. Dreier and Davis followed suit with a two-run each to put the Bulldogs up 5-1.
The Bulldogs pushed across another run in the top of the third via a sacrifice fly by Aaron Walton that brought in Howe.
VMI trimmed Samford's lead to 6-3 on a Trey Morgan two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth
but the Bulldogs got a run back in the top of the sixth on a sacrificed flyfrom Staton.
The Keydets added a run in the sixth on a Zac Morris sac fly and plated three more runs in the
bottom of the eighth to tie the game at seven. Morris plated the frame's first run on an RBI single to center while a two-run single by Jed Barrett evened the score.
Anderson's eventual game-winning homer came with two outs in the top of the 11th. Davis knocked a one-out single but was replaced by Klein following a fielder's choice to second
base.
The Keydets loaded the bases with one out, but Petshcke finished them off by striking out the next two batters to seal the win.
"Game one today was an incredible show of mental toughness by our guys," Coach David said. "Multiple innings in a row ending with a really well hit ball by us that they made a great defensive play on."
GAME TWO
Anderson and Howe both logged a pair of hits and RBI while Steele registered two hits as well. Anderson launched his 16th homer of the season in the game while also ripping an RBI double.
Davis and Klein both scored twice, with Davis extending his hitting streak to 27 games, leaving him just two games shy of tying the program's longest streak of consecutive games hit safely in.
Turner Thompson (1-3) shouldered the loss after giving up a run on two hits in the bottom of the eighth. Starter Will Lynch allowed five earned in 5.2 innings with six strikeouts while Jake Holifield tossed 1.1 innings of two-run relief.
The Bulldogs jumped on the Keydets early with three runs on two hits in the top of the first. Anderson drove in Davis with a one-out double while Steele recorded an RBI sac fly and Howe picked up an RBI single up the middle with two outs.
Following an RBI single from Grayson Fitzwater in the bottom of the second, the Bulldogs responded in the top of the third with a solo home run by Anderson and an RBI infield hit by Rodriguez to go up 5-1.
The Keydets tallied six runs on six hits to take a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the sixth. Cole Garrett started the scoring action with a two-run homer, followed by RBI singles from Barrett and Morgan, an RBI triple from Swaim, and a Bulldog throwing error to account for the damage done.
Samford tied the contest back up in the top of the eighth with a pair of runs scored, beginning with an RBI single from Steele. Howe's RBI sac fly brought in Klein to make it a 7-7 contest.
VMI took the lead for good in the bottom of the eighth on a Morgan sac fly.
"
John Anderson was the story of the weekend that deserves some national recognition," Coach David said. "We needed to win the series to stay in good position for a conference championship. It's a tough place to play."
The Bulldogs will be back in action on Wednesday, May 3 when they take on the Jacksonville State Gamecocks at 4:00 p.m. from Jacksonville, Ala.
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