ORLANDO, Fla. – The Samford University baseball team fell, 12-2 in seven innings in the final game of a three-game series Sunday afternoon at UCF.

"This was a tough weekend for us, obviously," Samford head coach Tony David said. "We played two really good, clean games defensively the last couple of days. The best we have played on the young season."
 
With the loss, Samford fell to 4-3 on the season. UCF improved to 5-0 with the win.
 
Samford was led at the plate by Andrew Bennett, who homered, going 1-for-3 with one RBI. John Anderson also drove in a run in the loss. Will Lynch (0-1) took the loss on the mound for Samford, pitching 3.0 innings, allowing six runs on seven hits. Evan Steckmesser, Turner Thompson and Miller Riggins also saw time on the mound for Samford.

"We like our staff as a whole, but we struggled with the strike zone and gave way too many passes to have a chance to beat a good team like UCF," David said. "We fell behind in all three games early. We battled back with a late lead last night and were in this one until another big inning for them,"
 
For UCF, Andrew Sundean went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and four RBI. Andrew Estrella went 2-for-3 with a home run and five RBI for the Knights. Dom Stagliano (1-0) earned the win on the mound, tossing 2.0 innings in relief, giving up one run on one hit.

"This is part of it," David said. "It's not about this weekend did or didn't happen, it's about where we go from here.We have a good baseball team, we just got punched in the mouth this weekend. We will regroup, get back to work and be better for it."
 
The Knights plated two runs in the first inning, one run in the second inning and three runs in the third inning to take a 6-0 lead. Samford came back with a run in the fourth inning and another in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 6-2. In the fourth inning, Anderson hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Garrett Howe for Samford's first run of the game. In the fifth inning, Bennett hit a solo home run to left-center field to draw Samford to within four runs.
 
The Knights scored a run in the bottom of the fifth inning to make the score 7-2. In the sixth inning, Estrella hit a grand slam to push the lead to 11-2. In the seventh inning, UCF added one final run to make the score 12-2, ending the contest on the mercy rule.
 
Samford will next play at Auburn on Tuesday, Feb. 27. The game is set for a 6 p.m. start from Plainsman Park.
 
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