GREENVILLE, S.C. – The second-seeded Samford University baseball team stayed alive in the Southern Conference Tournament with a 5-1 win over fourth-seeded Mercer Saturday evening at Fluor Field.
 
With the win, Samford improved its record to 30-26 and the Bulldogs advanced to Sunday's championship round. Mercer ends its season with a mark of 35-25.
 
"Mercer's a great team, they've had a really good year, and we knew it was going to be a battle tonight," Samford head coach Tony David said. "We knew we should have the pitching matchup. The guys they were throwing had all thrown a lot this week. Their starter, Ackerman, threw it well, but we got on the board early. We hit the ball really hard and got some big tack on runs with the Gupton home run. We bounced back in a big way today after a tough loss."
 
Samford was led in the win by Jackson Harris, going 3-for-4 at the plate. Michael Gupton homered and drove in two runs in a 1-for-3 performance. Jake Souders drove in two runs, also going 1-for-3 at the plate.
 
Mason Blasche (10-0) pitched 6.1 strong innings, allowing one run on seven hits to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Evan Steckmesser tossed the final 2.2 innings, allowing just one hit.
 
For Mercer, Parker Lester went 2-for-4 at the plate. Brant Baughcum drove in the Bears' lone run, going 1-for-3 with an RBI. Jess Ackerman (4-4) tossed 5.0 innings, allowing three runs on five hits to take the loss for the Bears.
 
In the first inning, Samford's Jeffrey Ince scored on a double by Cade Carr and Carr later scored on an error to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead. Mercer plated a run in the top of the fifth inning on a triple by Baughcum to cut the lead to 2-1.
 
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Souders singled to drive in Angelo Prieto to push the lead to 3-1. In the sixth inning, Gupton hit a two-run home run to center field to make the final score 5-1.
 
Samford and ETSU will play Sunday at 11 a.m. (CT) at Fluor Field. If Samford can win that game, a second game for the tournament title will follow. To follow all tournament games, click on the following link: SOCON TOURNAMENT CENTRAL.


 
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