BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The ETSU baseball team plated 10 runs in the top of the first inning and held on for a 13-9 win over Samford in the final game of a three-game Southern Conference series Sunday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
Samford won the series from the Bucs, two games to one. The Bulldogs dropped their record to 24-11 overall and 8-1 in Southern Conference play with Sunday's loss. ETSU improved its mark to 21-12 overall and 6-6 in league play.
 
Samford head coach Tony David praised his team's effort in battling back from the early 10-run deficit.
 
"I've been here a really long time and been a part of some really big wins and done a lot of incredible things, but I've never been prouder to wear the Samford uniform than I was today," David said. "We've had games where we've scored a lot more runs, but I don't know that we've had games where we've hit more balls hard out there. Down 10-0 early, two different times in the game, we had the tying run on third and the winning run at second and that's pretty incredible."
 
For Samford in the loss, Josh Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. Garrett Staton went 3-for-6 with a double and one RBI. Hayden Perry went 2-for-5 with an RBI for the Bulldogs. Garrett Howe walked to extend his reached base streak to 36 games, dating back to the final game of the 2023 season. Heath Clevenger (1-1) pitched a third of an inning, giving up six runs on three hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford.
 
For ETSU, Cameron Sisneros went 2-for-5 with a three-run home run, a grand slam and seven RBI, all coming in the first inning. Noah Gent and Noah Webb also homered in the game for the Bucs. Owen Kovacs (2-0) earned the win on the mound for ETSU, tossing 5.1 innings in relief, allowing one run on six hits.
 
The Bucs sent 14 batters to the plate in the 10-run first inning. Seven of the 10 runs came on Sisneros' two home runs.
 
Samford plated three runs in the second inning, five runs in the fourth inning and one run in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 10-9. In the second inning, Jackson Harris had a two-run single and Staton doubled to drive in another run. In the fourth inning, Rodriguez hit a three-run home run, and Perry and Andrew Bennett drove in a run each. The run in the fifth inning came on a sacrifice fly by Howe to bring Samford to within one run.
 
ETSU added a run in the sixth inning and two more in the eighth inning to push its lead to 13-9. Samford was unable to push across any more runs and the Bucs finished with the 13-9 win.
 
Samford will play host to in-state rival Troy Tuesday evening. The game is set for a 6 p.m. start from Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
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