BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University baseball team plated nine runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to come from behind for a 10-5 win over Wofford in the first game of a three-game Southern Conference series Thursday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
With the win, Samford is now 34-18 overall and 14-5 in Southern Conference play. The victory assures Samford of no worse than a No. 2 seed in next week's Southern Conference Tournament. Samford pitcher Michael Ross earned his 12^th win of the season, tying the school record accomplished by Josh Martin in 2012 and John Russell in 1961. Wofford fell to 33-17 overall and 10-8 in league play.
 
Entering the bottom of the eighth inning, Samford trailed Wofford, 5-1. Garrett Staton led the inning off with a double. Garrett Howe then doubled down the right-field line to drive in Staton to cut the lead to 5-2. Lucas Steele then singled to right-center field, moving Howe to third base. John Anderson then homered over the video board in left field to tie the game at 5-5.
 
Andrew Bennett reached base on an infield single and Blake Bortak pinch ran for Bennett. Parker McDonald then reached on a bunt single, moving Bortak to second base. A sacrifice bunt by Aaron Walton moved McDonald to second base and Bortak to third base. Bortak then scored on a wild pitch for a 6-5 Samford lead. Josh Rodriguez and Jackson Harris both walked to load the bases with one out. After a Wofford pitching change, Staton hit a grand slam to center field to push the Samford lead to 10-5.
 
"I told the guys in the dugout, I think in the seventh or eighth inning, it's not time to panic," Samford head coach Tony David said. "We say all the time, we really feel like we're going to get ours, it's just a matter of when. We weren't thinking nine runs in the eighth, but we feel like we're going to get to them eventually."
 
Samford was led in the game by Anderson, going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBI. Staton went 2-for-5 with a double, a home run and four RBI. Andrew Bennett went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
 
Ross (12-0) pitched 8.0 complete innings, giving up five runs, just three earned, on nine hits to earn the win. Ross finished the regular season with a 7-0 mark in Southern Conference play, having won his start in all seven SoCon series Samford played this season. Carson Lore pitched the final inning, giving up no runs on one hit to finish the game.
 
For Wofford, Marshall Toole went 3-for-3 with an RBI. Adam Haber and Jack Renwick had two hits each for the Terriers. Zac Cowan (7-2) only allowed one run through the first seven innings but wound up giving up nine runs on 10 hits through 7.1 innings and striking out 10 batters to take the loss for the Terriers.
 
Wofford scored a run in the first inning and another in the third inning for a 2-0 lead. In the fourth inning, the Terriers plated two more runs to make the score 4-0. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Samford's Bennett singled to left field to drive in Anderson to cut the lead to 4-1. Wofford added one final run in the seventh inning  to push its lead to 5-1 and set the stage for Samford's eighth-inning comeback.
 
The teams will continue their series on Friday with a game set for 3 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The game can be seen live on ESPN+, and fans can also follow the game online via live stats. For links to follow all of Samford's games this season, click on the following link: BASEBALL SCHEDULE.




 
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