JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – The Samford baseball team earned a 7-2 road win at in-state rival Jacksonville State Tuesday night at Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.
 
"This was a great job by our guys really all the way around," Samford head coach Tony David said. "We had a lot of good swings at the plate. Lucas had two huge hits for us."
 
With the win, Samford improved its season record to 13-7. Jacksonville State dropped its season mark to 9-11 with the loss.
 
Lucas Steele led Samford at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a home run and five RBI to lead the Bulldogs at the plate. Andrew Bennett went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI, while Garrett Howe went 2-for-4 with a double.
 
Jacob Newman (1-0) pitched 1.2 innings of hitless relief, striking out three batters without allowing a walk to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Newman was one of nine pitchers used in the win for Samford.
 
"We had a lot of arms we needed to get on the mound and, for the most part, they all threw well," David said. "(Alex) Flood got us going with two good innings and Turner (Thompson) was electric in the eighth. As a group, we had a lot of swings and misses, and turned a huge double play to escape a big jam. This was a great final tune up as we head into the real season this weekend."
 
Jacksonville State was led at the plate by Bear Madliak, going 3-for-4. Caleb Johnson and Logan Walters drove in a run each for the Gamecocks. Drew McCormick (0-1) tossed 2.1 innings, giving up five runs on four hits to take the loss for JSU.
 
Samford jumped out to an early lead, plating three runs in the top of the first inning. Howe scored the first run on a ground out by Steele. John Anderson then scored on a wild pitch, and the third run came home when Bennett doubled to drive in Josh Rodriguez for a 3-0 Samford lead.
 
The Bulldogs added two runs in the top of the third inning to push their lead to 5-0. Steele singled to right field to drive in Rodriguez and Anderson for a five-run Samford lead.
 
After JSU plated a run in the third inning and another in the sixth to cut the lead to 5-2, Samford added a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning to push the lead to 7-2. Steele homered to right-center field with Howe on base for a five-run Samford advantage.
 
Samford will open Southern Conference play by hosting VMI this weekend. The teams are scheduled to play Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
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