GREENVILLE, S.C. – Three Samford pitchers limited the SoCon's top offensive team to just one run as the second-seeded Bulldogs earned a 10-1 win over fifth-seeded Wofford in the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament Saturday afternoon at Fluor Field.
 
With the win, Samford is now 36-20 on the season. Wofford falls to 38-18 with the loss. Samford advanced to Sunday's championship round where the Bulldogs will take on either Wofford, Mercer or ETSU at 11 a.m. (CT).
 
Miller Riggins (2-1) pitched 6.0 strong innings, giving up just one run on four hits to earn the win on the mound for Samford. He struck out five batters in the game, while allowing just one walk.
 
"When you get to the weekends in this thing, pitching really has to be the tone setter," Samford head coach Tony David said. "In our league, there is so much offense and across the board, every team has a really good offensive team. The story today is about Miller Riggins. Just taking over as a starter late in the season, he's been incredibly consistent down the stretch. I felt great about him going out there and he just battled his tail off for six innings against a team that was on fire coming into today. He just did an incredible job."
 
For Samford at the plate, catcher Lucas Steele had another big game, going 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and five RBI. John Anderson went 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI. Garrett Staton went 3-for-5 with two RBI for the Bulldogs. Josh Rodriguez also had two hits for the Bulldogs.
 
Wofford pitcher Champ Davis (3-1) pitched 1.0 inning in relief, giving up two runs on two hits to take the loss on the mound for the Terriers. David Wiley homered for Wofford's lone run, going 1-for-3 at the plate. Daniel Jackson went 2-for-3 for the Terriers.
 
Wofford got the scoring started when Wiley hit a solo home run to left field in the top of the second inning for a 1-0 Terrier lead. In the bottom of the third inning, Steele reached base on an infield single to drive in Rodriguez to knot the score at 1-1.
 
Samford took control of the game with two runs in the fifth inning and three more runs in the sixth inning. In the fifth, Rodriguez scored the first run on a passed ball. Anderson then doubled to left field to drive in Staton for a 3-1 Bulldog lead. In the sixth inning, Bennett scored on a wild pitch to make the score 4-1. Staton later singled to right-center field to drive in Rodriguez and Aaron Walton for a 6-1 Samford lead.
 
Samford added a run in the seventh inning when Steele hit a solo home run to right-center field for a 7-1 Samford lead. In the eighth inning, Steele doubled down the right-field line to drive in Garrett Howe, Staton and Jackson Harris to make the score 10-1.
 
Samford will take on either Wofford, Mercer or ETSU in Sunday's championship round. The first pitch is set for 11 a.m. (CT) from Fluor Field. To follow all of the action at this week's SoCon Tournament, click on the following link: TOURNAMENT CENTRAL.


 
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