BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University baseball team battled 17^th-ranked Mississippi State into extra innings before falling by a score of 9-5 in 10 innings Tuesday evening at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
With the loss, Samford fell to 16-8 on the season. Mississippi State improved its record to 18-8 with the win.
 
"That was one of the more frustrating non-conference losses I've had," Samford head coach Tony David said. "There aren't many ways where we didn't out play them. I thought we swung the bats well and pitched great. We battled like crazy, and I told the guys on the field that I wanted them to be frustrated. I don't want them to be excited because they went extra innings with a good baseball team. They have a good team, they do a good job, but, at the end of the night, the frustrating part is we just had so many opportunities."
 
Samford was led in the loss by Aaron Walton, hitting a home run and driving in two runs in a 1-for-4 performance at the plate. Andrew Bennett went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double. Josh Rodriguez, Lucas Steele and Cullen Horowicz drove in a run each for Samford.
 
Carson Lore (1-2) pitched the final inning in relief, allowing four runs on five hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford. Lore was one of six pitchers used by Samford in the game.
 
Mississippi State was led by Dakota Jordan, going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBI. Hunter Hines went 2-for-5 with a double, a home run and two RBI. Bryce Chance also homered for MSU, going 1-for-2 at the plate. Tyler Davis (2-0) pitched the final 2.0 innings, allowing no runs on one hit to earn the win on the mound for MSU.
 
After Mississippi State scored two runs in the top of the first inning, Samford plated a run in the bottom of the first when Steele singled to drive in Garrett Howe to cut the MSU lead to 2-1.
 
Samford tied the game with a run in the bottom of the third inning and then took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. In the third inning, Howe scored on a sacrifice fly by Rodriguez to knot the score at 2-2. In the fourth inning, Bennett scored the first run on a sacrifice fly by Horowicz. Walton then hit a two-run homer to center field for a 5-2 Samford lead.
 
In the top of the fifth inning, Mississippi State got a two-run home run by Jordan and a solo shot by Hines to tie the score again at 5-5. In the bottom of the ninth inning, John Anderson doubled, and Rodriguez walked with two outs for Samford. The Bulldogs, however, were unable to push a run across and the teams headed to extra innings knotted at 5-5.
 
In the top of the 10^th inning, MSU's Chance homered with one out for the eventual game-winning run. David Mershon then singled to drive in two runs for an 8-5 lead. Jordan later delivered an RBI single up the middle to make the final score 9-5.
 
Samford will host Longwood in a three-game series this weekend at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader Friday at 1 p.m. and a single game Saturday, also at 1 p.m.




 
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