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Baseball vs Kentucky postgame handshake line
7
Kentucky UK 27-5
9
Winner Samford SAM 22-10
Kentucky UK
27-5
7
Final
9
Samford SAM
22-10
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kentucky UK 0 0 0 0 2 3 2 0 0 7 8 1
Samford SAM 5 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 X 9 11 2

W: Clevenger, Heath (1-0) L: Drew Lafferty (1-1) S: Lore, Carson (3)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Bulldogs Take Down 10th-Ranked Kentucky, 9-7

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University baseball took down the 10th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, winning by a score of 9-7 Tuesday evening at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
With the win, Samford improved its record to 22-10 on the season. Kentucky fell to 27-5 with the loss. The win marked Samford's first victory over a top-10-ranked opponent since defeating 10th-ranked Florida State in 2022.
 
"This was just a great job by our guys," Samford head coach Tony David said. "It was a battle, and we knew it was going to be a battle. When we jumped out early, nobody in our dugout thought it was going to be a steamroll job, they've got a great team. It really started with Clevenger's first inning, getting those guys up and down in order. And then we came in and really swung the bats. We've got a really good hitting team and we jumped on them, they gave us a little bit of help with some walks, but we really just swung the bats."
 
Heath Clevenger (1-0) pitched 4.0 innings, giving up no runs on one hit and striking out five batters to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Carson Lore picked up his third save of the season, tossing the final 2.0 hitless innings.
 
At the plate for Samford, Andrew Bennett and Jackson Harris each went 2-for-4 with two RBI. John Anderson went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Angelo Prieto homered, going 1-for-3 with two RBI.
 
For Kentucky, James McCoy went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Nick Lopez also went 2-for-4 for the Wildcats. Devin Burkes and Grant Smith both homered in the loss for Kentucky. Drew Lafferty (1-1) pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up five runs on four hits to take the loss on the mound for the Wildcats.
 
Samford jumped out to an early lead, plating five runs in the bottom of the first inning. Anderson doubled to right center field to drive in Garrett Howe for the game's first run. Bennett then singled to center field to drive in Anderson for a 2-0 Samford lead. Harris later singled up the middle to drive in Lucas Steele and Bennett to make the score 4-0. Aaron Walton scored the final run of the inning on a wild pitch to give Samford a 5-0 lead.
 
After Kentucky scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning, Samford's Hayden Perry singled to drive in Howe for a 6-2 Samford lead. After the Wildcats scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning, Samford came back with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Prieto hit a two-run home run for the first two runs of the inning. Bennett later singled to drive in Garrett Staton to make the score 9-5.
 
Kentucky plated two runs in the top of the seventh inning to cut the lead to 9-7. The Samford pitching staff was able to hold the Wildcats scoreless the rest of the way as the Bulldogs came away with the 9-7 win.
 
Samford will host ETSU in a Southern Conference series this weekend. The teams are set to play Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.




 
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS:
For the latest news and information on Samford baseball, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordBaseball (Facebook), @SamfordBaseball (Instagram) and @SamfordBaseball (Twitter). 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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