BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University baseball team dropped a 10-8 decision in a back-and-forth slugfest with in-state rival Troy Tuesday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
With the loss, Samford fell to 24-12 on the season. Troy improved its season record to 26-12 with the victory.
 
"I'm proud of the fight shown by the guys," Samford head coach Tony David said. "This was another Tuesday night battle that could have gone either way, and we ended up on the short end when it was all said and done."
 
Samford was led in the loss by John Anderson, going 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Angelo Prieto also went 2-for-5 for the Bulldogs. Garrett Howe drove in four runs, going 1-for-4 with a triple. Miller Riggins (0-1) pitched 1.0 inning in relief, giving up one run on two hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford. Riggins was one of eight pitchers used in the game by Samford.
 
For Troy, Brooks Bryan went 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. Ethan Kavanagh went 3-for-6 with two RBI for the Trojans. Noah Manning (6-0) pitched 1.2 hitless innings in relief to earn the win on the mound for Troy.
 
Troy jumped out on top first with four runs in the top of the first inning. Samford plated a run in the bottom of the first and then took the lead with four runs in the second inning and another run in the third inning. In the first inning, Andrew Bennett reached on an infield single to drive in Garrett Staton for Samford's first run of the game. In the second inning, Howe hit a three-run triple to tie the score at 4-4. Anderson later singled to drive in Howe for a 5-4 Samford lead. In the third inning, Prieto scored on a sacrifice fly by Aaron Walton to make the score 6-4.
 
The Trojans scored two runs in the fourth inning, and one each in the sixth and seventh innings to take an 8-6 lead. Samford came back to tie the score with two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Josh Rodriguez doubled to drive in Walton for Samford's first run of the eighth inning. Rodriguez later scored on a sacrifice fly by Howe to knot the score at 8-8.
 
In the top of the ninth inning, Troy's Kavanagh singled to drive in two runs to give the Trojans a 10-8 lead. Samford was unable to score in the bottom of the ninth and Troy came away with the two-run win.
 
Samford will travel to Western Carolina this weekend for a three-game Southern Conference series. The teams are scheduled to play Friday at 4 p.m. (CT), Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT) and Sunday at 12 p.m. (CT) in Cullowhee, N.C.


 
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