BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Senior catcher Kaden Dreier led the Samford Baseball Team to a 4-2 win in extra innings on Saturday against UNCG with a two-homer, four-RBI effort, including a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th.
The win clinches the series for the Bulldogs over the Spartans and improves their record to 18-14 overall and 7-2 atop the Southern Conference standings. UNCG falls to 16-16 overall and 4-5 in SoCon play.
Garrett Staton, Jayden Davis, and Garrett Howe all also logged a pair of hits, with Howe scoring twice in the game. Davis's multi-hit effort extended his current hitting streak to 16 games.
Ben Petschke (3-1) tossed the final four innings of scoreless relief to clinch the victory. The junior closer struck out six while giving up just one hit.
Starter Will Lynch fanned six batters over six innings of work while giving up just two runs in the no-decision.
UNCG tallied its first run of the game in the top of the first when Kennedy Jones plated Zack Budzik, who led off the game with a double to right, with an RBI single up the middle. The Spartans doubled their lead in the second on an RBI groundout from Daniel Cerda.
The 2-0 score held all the way until the bottom of the sixth inning when Dreier's second big fly of the season tied the score at two-all with two outs in the inning. Howe kept the frame alive by knocking a single up the middle one batter prior.
The 10th inning proved to be the most dramatic. A one-out single to left by Daniel Cerda appeared as though it would plate the go-ahead run, but newly-entered left fielder Brayden Broom fired a strike to home to cut down Mitchell Smith before scoring.
Howe led off the bottom of the tenth by legging out an infield hit up the middle to set the stage for Dreier's towering walk-off bomb that tucked just inside the left-field foul pole.
The Bulldogs outhit the Spartans on the day, 10-9 while both teams stranded a total of 12 baserunners.
The Bulldogs will return to action on Tuesday, April 11 for a midweek contest at Troy University at 6:00 p.m.(CST).
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