GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Samford University baseball team earned an 8-4 win in game one of a pivotal Southern Conference series at UNC Greensboro Friday night at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
With the win, Samford, currently in first place in the SoCon standings, improved its season record to 33-16 overall and 13-3 in Southern Conference play. UNC Greensboro, in second place in the league, dropped its record to 29-18 overall and 13-6 in league action.
"It was really big for us to get this first one," Samford head coach Tony David said. "(Michael) Ross was Ross for us again, but with some bad luck sprinkled in. They had some soft contact hits in their run-scoring innings. We were great defensively and had some tremendous at bats. We have a lot of work in front of us, but it's always great to get the one on Friday."
Samford was led in the win by
Josh Rodriguez, going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBI.
Jackson Harris went 2-for-4 with a triple for the Bulldogs.
Garrett Staton drove in two runs for Samford, while
Lucas Steele and
Blake Bortak drove in one run each.
Michael Ross (11-0) pitched 7.0 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits and striking out seven batters while allowing just one walk to earn the win on the mound for Samford.
Carson Lore tossed the final 2.0 hitless innings to pick up his seventh save of the season.
For UNCG, Tyler Steele drove in three runs in a 1-for-4 performance. Luke Jenkins went 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Luke Holland went 2-for-4. Hunter Shuey (6-1) pitched 6.2 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits to take the loss for the Spartans.
Samford jumped on top first with four runs in the top of the third inning. Rodriguez got things started with a two-run home run to center field for a 2-0 Samford lead. Harris later scored on a sacrifice fly by Staton to make the score 3-0.
Garrett Howe scored the inning's final run on a UNCG error to give Samford a 4-0 lead.
UNC Greensboro came back with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut the Samford lead to 4-2. Steele hit a two-run single to bring the Spartans to within two runs.
Samford answered with two runs in the top of the seventh inning to push its lead to 6-2. Staton doubled to drive in Rodriguez for the first run of the inning.
Lucas Steele then singled to drive in Staton for a four-run Samford lead.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, UNCG added two more runs to cut the lead to 6-4. Steele drove in a run with a ground out, and Jenkins had an RBI single to cut the Samford lead to two runs.
Samford added a run in the eighth inning and another in the ninth to make the final score 8-4. In the eighth inning, Rodriguez singled to drive in Bortak. In the ninth inning, Bortak singled to drive in Howe for the game's final run.
The teams will continue their series with a game Saturday afternoon. The game is set for a 1 p.m. (CT) start.
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