FLORENCE, Ala. – The Samford University baseball team plated 19 runs on 15 hits on its way to a 19-10 win in a slugfest at North Alabama Wednesday evening at Mike D. Lane Field.
 
"This was another good job by our guys after falling behind early," Samford head coach Tony David said. "We were great all night with big, two-out, two-strike hits."
 
With the win, Samford improved its season record to 29-15. North Alabama fell to 14-29 with the loss.
 
Samford was led in the win by Josh Rodriguez, going 2-for-2 with a double, a grand slam and six RBI. Andrew Bennett went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Garrett Howe went 3-for-6 with two RBI, while Garrett Staton was 2-for-7 with a double and two RBI. Hayden Perry also homered in the win, going 1-for-4 with three RBI.
 
Cole Fryman (1-0) pitched 2.0 innings in relief, giving up one run on two hits to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Fryman was one of 10 pitchers used in the game by Samford.
 
"We were able to get a lot of different arms in to continue development and keep sharp for the weekend," David said. "Fryman had another good outing, going multiple innings and continuing his good work lately. I am looking forward to another big SoCon weekend. We are ready."
 
For North Alabama, Gehrig Frei went 2-for-5 with two home runs, including a grand slam, and six RBI. Jonthan Lane went 2-for-6 for the Lions. Justin Battle (0-2) pitched 1.0 inning, giving up two runs on three hits to take the loss on the mound for UNA.
 
After both teams scored a run in the first inning, Samford took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second when Staton doubled to drive in Rodriguez. North Alabama took a 6-2 lead with five runs in the bottom of the second, with four of the runs coming on Frei's grand slam. Samford answered in the top of the third inning with Rodriguez's grand slam to tie the game at 6-6.
 
Samford took the lead for good with two runs in the fourth inning on a pair of RBI doubles by Anderson and Bennett. In the fifth inning, Staton had an RBI single for a 9-6 Samford lead. After UNA cut the lead to 9-7 with a run in the bottom of the fifth, Samford added four more runs in the top of the sixth on RBI doubles by Jackson Harris and Rodriguez, and a two-run home run by Perry for a 13-7 Samford advantage.
 
UNA plated a run in the bottom of the sixth inning, but Samford came back with three more runs in the top of the seventh. Bennett, Rodriguez and Perry all walked with the bases loaded as Samford took a 16-8 lead.
 
After the Lions cut the lead to 16-10 with two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Samford plated three final runs in the top of the ninth inning to make the final score 19-10. Cade Carr walked with the bases loaded and Howe delivered a two-run single for a nine-run Samford victory.
 
Samford will host Mercer in a three-game Southern Conference series this weekend. The teams are scheduled to play Friday at 4 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
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