JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Samford freshman Eddie Marshall hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning and Samford's pitchers held Jacksonville State scoreless for the final two innings as the Bulldogs earned a 7-6 win over the Gamecocks Tuesday afternoon at Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.

With the win, Samford improved to 8-11 on the season. JSU dropped to 17-4 with the loss.
 
"This was a really good college baseball game where we had some guys really clutch up down the stretch," Samford head coach Tony David said. "Jax State has a really good baseball team. It's hard to put into words how clutch Marshall has been at the end of games with the long ball. He drove that ball out opposite field against an outstanding closer."
 
For Samford at the plate, Jeffrey Ince went 3-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI. Jake Souders went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. Marshall homered in his lone at bat of the game, driving in two runs. Cade Carr also hit a home run, going 1-for-5 with an RBI.
 
John Malone (1-1) pitched 2.1 innings, allowing just one hit to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Zak Spurrier pitched the final 1.1 innings, allowing no hits and striking out four batters to pick up his third save of the season. Noah Berry, Trey Sanders, John Whitney and Andrew Arnold also saw time on the mound for Samford.
 
"Berry was great to get things going in the mound and we had several guys throw well," David said. "But Spurrier was the story and was electric to finish it. We got him going a little and showed emotion that is rare for him. This was a great way to finish off the pre-season. We have confidence in this group at the plate. Today was a good step forward. Looking forward to starting up league play."
 
For Jax State at the plate, Jaxon Pate and Caleb Johnson drove in two runs each. Skyler Hutto (2-1) pitched two-thirds of an inning, allowing one run on two hits to take the loss for the Gamecocks.
 
Samford struck first when Carr hit a solo home run to left field in the top of the second inning for a 1-0 Bulldog lead. In the top of the third inning, Souders hit a two-run home run to center field to push the Samford lead to 3-0.
 
Jacksonville State came back with five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 5-3 lead. Johnson drove in the first two runs of the inning with a double. Pate then singled up the middle to drive in two more runs. The final run of the inning came on a single by Cooper Blauser.
 
Samford cut the lead to 5-4 in the top of the fifth inning when Souders singled to drive in Ince. Jacksonville State's Pate scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning to push the lead to 6-4. In the top of the seventh inning, Ince singled up the middle to drive in Gus Gandy to make the score 6-5.
 
In the top of the eighth inning, Luke Boykin walked and Trey Higgins reached base on a fielder's choice with Boykin being retired for the first out of the inning. With two outs, Marshall homered to right-center field to give Samford the 7-6 lead.
 
Samford will open Southern Conference play with a three-game series at Western Carolina this weekend. The teams are scheduled to play Friday at 4 p.m. (CT), Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT) and Sunday at 12 p.m. (CT). For links to follow all of Samford's games this season, click on the following link: 2026 SCHEDULE.
 
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