GREENVILLE, S.C. – The second-seeded Samford University baseball team dropped two games to fifth-seeded Wofford in the championship round of the Southern Conference Tournament Sunday at Fluor Field. Wofford took the first game, 10-9, and the second game by a score of 15-9.
 
With the losses, Samford ended its season with a record of 36-22. Wofford improved to 41-18. The Terriers earn the SoCon's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and they will learn their location and opponent when the NCAA Tournament Selection Show airs Monday.
 
"As I told the team, winning is hard and winning year-to-year is harder," Samford head coach Tony David said. "So, given where we were from a pitching staff standpoint, we knew going into this weekend it was going to be tough. We put ourselves in position by finishing second to win three and that was the only shot we had at it this week."
 
In the first game, Samford was led at the plate by Aaron Walton, going 4-for-5 with an RBI. Andrew Bennett went 2-for-5 with a double, a home run and three RBI. John Anderson and Garrett Staton had two hits and two RBI each. Staton hit his team-leading 19^th home run of the season as well. Heath Clevenger (1-3) pitched two thirds of an inning, giving up three runs on four hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford.
 
For Wofford in game one, Tyler Hare went 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBI. Zac Cowan, who was named the SoCon Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, tossed 7.0 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits to earn the win for the Terriers. Kenny Michaels picked up his second save of the season, pitching the final 2.0 innings, allowing five runs on six hits.
 
Wofford scored three runs in the first inning, one run in the second inning and two runs in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead in game one. Samford scored two runs in the fourth inning to cut the lead to 6-2. Wofford then added a run in the seventh inning and Samford plated two runs in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 7-4. The Terriers added three ruins in the top of the ninth to push the lead to 10-4.
 
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Samford plated five runs to cut the lead to 10-9. Garrett Howe drove in Samford's first run of the inning with a sacrifice fly. Anderson hit a two-run double to bring Samford to within three runs. Bennett then hit a two-run homer to right-center field to cut the lead to 10-9. Samford, however, was unable to push another run across as the game ended in a 10-9 Wofford win.
 
In game two, Lucas Steele went 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and five RBI. Howe, Anderson and Jackson Harris had two hits each in game two. Noah Berry (0-3) pitched two thirds of an inning, giving up four runs on five hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford.
 
For Wofford in game two, Dixon Black, Daniel Jackson, Hare and Andrew Mannelly each homered. Camden Wicker (4-3) earned the win on the mound for Wofford, tossing 6.1 innings, giving up six runs on six hits.
 
Wofford scored four runs each in the first, third and fourth innings to grab a 12-3 lead. The Terriers added a run in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh inning to push their lead to 15-3. Samford came back with three runs in the seventh inning and three more in the ninth to make the final score 15-9.
 
For Samford, Miller Riggins, Carson Lore, Steele, Staton and Bennett were all named to the All-SoCon Tournament team.


 
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