MACON, Ga. – The Samford University baseball team dropped a hard-fought pitchers' duel in the first game of its three-game series at Mercer, 2-1, Thursday evening at Ortho Park.

"This was a really good college baseball game," Samford head coach Tony David said. "We played well and they were flawless. Both starters were incredible on the mound. (Miller) Riggins did a great job of escaping some trouble and (Colton) Cosper continued his dominance over the last few weeks. He threw multiple pitches to both sides of the plate. We'll be back in the saddle tomorrow ith (Cameron) Keshock on the hill for us."
 
With the loss, Samford fell to 27-24 overall and 12-7 in Southern Conference play. Mercer improved its record to 32-22 overall and 11-8 in SoCon games.
 
The teams entered the bottom of the eighth inning locked in a scoreless tie. Bradley Frye led the bottom of the inning off for Mercer with a single. Frye then moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Titan Kamaka and then went to third base on a ground out by Ely Brown. Frye then scored on a wild pitch for a 1-0 Mercer lead.
 
Samford went to the ninth inning having to score to keep the game alive. With one out in the inning, Cade Carr homered to left field to knot the score at 1-1 and force a bottom of the ninth inning.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, Parker Lester and David Falloon led the inning off with back-to-back singles and Michael Graziano pinch ran for Lester at second base. Both runners moved up on a ground out by Ty Dalley. Brant Baughcum was then intentionally walked to load the bases. Frye then singled to left field, driving in Graziano for the walk-off, 2-1 Mercer win.
 
Samford received an impressive starting pitching performance from Miller Riggins, pitching 7.0 strong innings, allowing no runs on four hits and striking out six batters. Drew Druckenmiller pitched the eighth inning, allowing one run on one hit. Evan Steckmesser (3-4) pitched the ninth inning, allowing one run on three hits to take the loss for the Bulldogs.
 
Samford was led at the plate by Carr, going 2-for-4 with a home run and one RBI. Jackson Harris was also 2-for-4 at the plate for the Bulldogs.
 
Mercer's Colton Cosper got the start on the mound for the Bears, pitching 8.0 innings, allowing no runs on five hits and striking out 11 batters. Collin Edwaldsen (2-2) pitched the final inning to earn the win for the Bears.
 
At the plate for Mercer, Frye went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Brown and Falloon had two hits each for Mercer.
 
Samford and Mercer will continue their series with a game Friday evening. The first pitch is set for 5 p.m. (CT).
 
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