Sunday, May 5
Birmingham, Ala.
1 PM
Samford University
31-16, 12-3
12
vs
5
Mercer
24-22, 5-9
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
| Samford | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | X | 12 | 16 | 1 |
Bulldogs Earn 12-5 Sunday Win Over Mercer To Take Series Victory
5.5.24 | Baseball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University baseball team earned a 12-5 win over the Mercer Bears in the final game of a Southern Conference series Sunday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
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The game was delayed in the bottom of the sixth inning for three hours and 39 minutes due to lightning. The win gave Samford the series win over Mercer, two games to one. Samford's record improved to 31-16 overall and 12-3 in Southern Conference play. Mercer dropped to 24-22 overall and 5-9 in league play.
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Samford head coach Tony David said he was proud of the way his guys battled back on Sunday after dropping a 20-15 decision in Saturday's game.
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"You have to be able to hit the ball, you have to be able to catch it and you have to be able to throw it, but our sport is so much of a mental game with mental toughness," David said. "After yesterday's game and all of the runs that were scored and what we gave up, and then falling behind early today, it just says so much about our team from a mental toughness aspect."
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Garrett Howe led Samford in the win, going 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. Aaron Walton went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and two RBI. Andrew Bennett went 2-for-5 with a home run and one RBI. Garrett Staton went 2-for-5 with a double and one RBI. Lucas Steele went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, while Jackson Harris went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
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Carson Lore (2-3) pitched 3.2 innings in relief, giving up no runs on one hit and striking out four batters to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Alex Flood and Jake Holifield also saw time on the mound for the Bulldogs.
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For Mercer, Jackson Cherry, Parker Lester and Ely Brown all homered in the loss. Micah Takac (1-1) took the loss on the mound for the Bears, tossing two-thirds of an innings, allowing one run on one hit.
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Mercer got the scoring started with one run in the second inning and three more in the third inning for a 4-0 lead. In the second inning, Brown hit a solo home run to right field for a 1-0 Mercer lead. In the third, Cherry hit a two-run home run to center field to make the score 3-0. Lester then hit a solo homer to right field for a 4-0 Mercer advantage.
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Samford came back with three runs in the bottom of the third inning to cut the Mercer lead to 4-3. Staton had an RBI double, Howe had an RBI single and Steele delivered an RBI double to bring Samford to within one run.
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The Bulldogs took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Bennett scored the game-tying run on a ground out by Hayden Perry. Walton then scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Josh Rodriguez for a 5-4 Samford lead.
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Mercer tied the score in the top of the sixth inning when Antonio Brown singled to left field to drive in Bradley Frye to knot the score at 5-5. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Bennett homered to left field for a 6-5 Samford advantage. The game then entered a three hour and 39-minute weather delay. Following the delay, Harris singled to right field to drive in Rodriguez for a 7-5 Samford lead to finish the scoring in the bottom of the sixth inning.
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In the bottom of the seventh inning, Howe hit a solo home run and Walton hit a two-run homer to push the lead to 10-5. In the eighth inning, Howe and Anderson each had RBI singles to make the score 12-5.
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"Falling behind 4-0 early and then answering their three spot with a three spot and then getting two more on there after that to take the lead was huge," David said. "And then after the long delay, bouncing back out there to get the momentum back was big."
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The Bulldogs will host North Alabama Tuesday, May 7, at 4 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field. 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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FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS:
For the latest news and information on Samford baseball, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordBaseball (Facebook), @SamfordBaseball (Instagram) and @SamfordBaseball (Twitter).Â
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The game was delayed in the bottom of the sixth inning for three hours and 39 minutes due to lightning. The win gave Samford the series win over Mercer, two games to one. Samford's record improved to 31-16 overall and 12-3 in Southern Conference play. Mercer dropped to 24-22 overall and 5-9 in league play.
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Samford head coach Tony David said he was proud of the way his guys battled back on Sunday after dropping a 20-15 decision in Saturday's game.
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"You have to be able to hit the ball, you have to be able to catch it and you have to be able to throw it, but our sport is so much of a mental game with mental toughness," David said. "After yesterday's game and all of the runs that were scored and what we gave up, and then falling behind early today, it just says so much about our team from a mental toughness aspect."
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Garrett Howe led Samford in the win, going 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. Aaron Walton went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and two RBI. Andrew Bennett went 2-for-5 with a home run and one RBI. Garrett Staton went 2-for-5 with a double and one RBI. Lucas Steele went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, while Jackson Harris went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
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Carson Lore (2-3) pitched 3.2 innings in relief, giving up no runs on one hit and striking out four batters to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Alex Flood and Jake Holifield also saw time on the mound for the Bulldogs.
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For Mercer, Jackson Cherry, Parker Lester and Ely Brown all homered in the loss. Micah Takac (1-1) took the loss on the mound for the Bears, tossing two-thirds of an innings, allowing one run on one hit.
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Mercer got the scoring started with one run in the second inning and three more in the third inning for a 4-0 lead. In the second inning, Brown hit a solo home run to right field for a 1-0 Mercer lead. In the third, Cherry hit a two-run home run to center field to make the score 3-0. Lester then hit a solo homer to right field for a 4-0 Mercer advantage.
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Samford came back with three runs in the bottom of the third inning to cut the Mercer lead to 4-3. Staton had an RBI double, Howe had an RBI single and Steele delivered an RBI double to bring Samford to within one run.
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The Bulldogs took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Bennett scored the game-tying run on a ground out by Hayden Perry. Walton then scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Josh Rodriguez for a 5-4 Samford lead.
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Mercer tied the score in the top of the sixth inning when Antonio Brown singled to left field to drive in Bradley Frye to knot the score at 5-5. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Bennett homered to left field for a 6-5 Samford advantage. The game then entered a three hour and 39-minute weather delay. Following the delay, Harris singled to right field to drive in Rodriguez for a 7-5 Samford lead to finish the scoring in the bottom of the sixth inning.
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In the bottom of the seventh inning, Howe hit a solo home run and Walton hit a two-run homer to push the lead to 10-5. In the eighth inning, Howe and Anderson each had RBI singles to make the score 12-5.
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"Falling behind 4-0 early and then answering their three spot with a three spot and then getting two more on there after that to take the lead was huge," David said. "And then after the long delay, bouncing back out there to get the momentum back was big."
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The Bulldogs will host North Alabama Tuesday, May 7, at 4 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field. 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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FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS:
For the latest news and information on Samford baseball, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordBaseball (Facebook), @SamfordBaseball (Instagram) and @SamfordBaseball (Twitter).Â
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Players Mentioned
INF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF/LHP
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballSS
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballC
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballC/OF
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballTeam Stats
Pitching:
W: Lore, Carson (2-3)
L: Micah Takac (1-1)
Batting:
HR: Jackson Cherry 1 ; Parker Lester 1 ; Ely Brown 1
RBI: Jackson Cherry 2 ; Parker Lester 1 ; Ely Brown 1 ; Antonio Brown 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Noah Best 1 ; Jackson Cherry 1 ; Parker Lester 1 ; Bradley Frye 1 ; Ely Brown 1
HBP: Ty Dalley 1
Batting:
2B: Staton, Garrett 1 ; Steele, Lucas 1 ; Walton, Aaron 1 ; Rodriguez, Josh 1
HR: Howe, Garrett 1 ; Bennett, Andrew 1 ; Walton, Aaron 1
RBI: Staton, Garrett 1 ; Howe, Garrett 3 ; Steele, Lucas 1 ; Anderson, John 1 ; Bennett, Andrew 1 ; Walton, Aaron 2 ; Perry, Hayden 1 ; Rodriguez, Josh 1 ; Harris, Jackson 1
SF: Rodriguez, Josh 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Staton, Garrett 2 ; Howe, Garrett 2 ; Bennett, Andrew 3 ; Walton, Aaron 2 ; Rodriguez, Josh 1 ; Harris, Jackson 2
HBP: Steele, Lucas 1 ; Harris, Jackson 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
2
H
4
RBI
3
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
3
H
2
RBI
1
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