BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University baseball team plated three runs in the bottom of the 11^th inning to take a thrilling 9-8 win over The Citadel in the first game of a three-game Southern Conference series Friday evening at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
With the win, Samford improved its record to 19-15 overall and 5-2 in Southern Conference play. The Citadel fell to 18-16 overall and 3-4 in league play.
 
"I told the guys after the game, that was not our best performance," Samford head coach Tony David said. "We did a lot of good things in the game of course, but we left a lot of meat on the bone early. We almost had their starter out of the game in the second inning and we allowed him to get into the game late."
 
Samford entered the bottom of the 11^th inning trailing, 8-6. Jake Souders singled to left field to start the rally. Souders moved to second base on a wild pitch and Parker McDonald walked. Trey Higgins was then hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Matthew Strand then doubled to left center field to drive in Souders and McDonald to knot the score at 8-8. With one out, Higgins scored when Michael Gupton reached on a fielder's choice, giving Samford the 9-8 walk-off win.
 
"After they scored those two runs to come back, Jake got a big hit to get that inning started," David said. "Then we jumped back in it, just one good at bat after another, Strand hit that missile in the gap and then Gupton did a good job of picking up Gus there in the last inning and Higgins just got a great jump and beat it out at the plate."
 
For Samford in the win, Gupton went 2-for-6 with two RBI. Souders and Gus Gandy had two hits each. Cade Carr and Strand drove in two runs each for the Bulldogs.
 
Evan Steckmesser (3-1) pitched 5.0 innings in relief to earn the win on the mound for Samford. He allowed three runs, just one earned, on five hits and he struck out 10 batters, while allowing just one walk.
 
For The Citadel, Travis Elliott went 4-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Phillips Daniels went 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI. Lane Tobin went 2-for-5 with a home run and one RBI. Yates Bland (1-4) allowed three runs on one hit to take the loss on the mound for The Citadel.
 
Samford jumped out to a 3-0 lead with two runs in the first inning and one run in the second inning. In the first inning, Higgins walked with the bases loaded for the first run of the game. Souders later scored on a wild pitch for a two-run Samford lead. In the second inning, Carr was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for a 3-0 Samford lead.
 
The Citadel scored a run each in the third, fourth and fifth innings to tie the score at 3-3. The Citadel took a 5-3 lead with two runs in the top of the sixth inning. In the bottom of the sixth, Gupton singled to drive in a run to cut the lead to 5-4. Harris walked with the bases loaded to knot the score at 5-5. Carr hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Gandy for a 6-5 Samford lead.
 
The Citadel plated a run in the top of the eighth inning to tie the score at 6-6. The score remained tied until the top of the 11^th inning when The Citadel plated two runs to take an 8-6 lead and set the stage for Samford's come-from-behind win.
 
The teams will continue their series with a game Saturday afternoon. The first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.


 
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