GREENVILLE, S.C. – The second-seeded Samford University baseball team dropped a 14-8 decision to top-seeded ETSU in the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament Saturday afternoon at Fluor Field.
 
With the loss, Samford fell to 29-26 on the season. The Bulldogs will play again Saturday night at 6 p.m. (CT) against the winner of the second game of the day between Mercer and The Citadel in an elimination game. ETSU is now 40-15 and the Bucs advance to the tournament championship round on Sunday.
 
Samford was led in the loss by Cade Carr, going 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Jackson Harris went 2-for-3 with two RBI, while Matthew Strand drove in two runs, going 1-or-3 with a double.
 
Cameron Keshock (5-4) pitched 3.1 innings, allowing 12 runs, 10 earned, on eight hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford. John Malone and Austin Tommasini also saw time on the mound for the Bulldogs.
 
ETSU was led at the plate by Axel Melendez, going 2-for-5 with a home run and five RBI. Cooper Torres went 2-for-2 with a home run and two RBI. Tristan Curless also homered for ETSU, going 1-for-4 with three RBI. Cody Miller also went 2-for-5 for the Bucs.
 
Michael Harpster (7-3) pitched 5.0 innings, allowing five runs on five hits to earn the win on the mound for the Bucs. Derek McCarley, Andrew Cotton and Colin Eaton also pitched in the game for ETSU.
 
Samford jumped on top first with three runs in the top of the first inning. Carr hit an RBI double and Strand hit a two-run double for a 3-0 Samford lead. ETSU, however, answered with five runs in the bottom of the first to take a 5-3 lead.
 
The Bulldogs plated two runs in the top of the fourth inning to knot the score at 5-5. Harris singled up the middle to drive in two runs to tie the score. ETSU then took control of the game with seven runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Curless hit a two-run home run and Melendez hit a three-run homer to account for most of the runs as ETSU built a 12-5 lead.
 
In the bottom of the fifth inning, ETSU added a run to make it 13-5. Samford scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning on RBI by Jake Souders and Parker McDonald to make the score 13-7. In the bottom of the seventh, ETSU's Torres homered to right field to push the lead to 14-7. In the top of the ninth inning, Michael Gupton singled to drive in a run for Samford to make the final score 14-8.
 
The first pitch for Saturday night's game against either Mercer or The Citadel is set for 6 p.m. (CT) from Fluor Field. The game can be seen live on ESPN+ and live stats will also be available. Fans can follow every tournament game at the following link: SOCON TOURNAMENT CENTRAL.
 
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