BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University baseball team dropped a 4-3, 10-inning decision to ETSU in the second game of a three-game series Friday evening at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
The result evens the series at one game apiece, with the third and deciding game coming up Saturday afternoon. Samford's season record drops to 14-15 overall and 2-3 in Southern Conference play. ETSU improved to 20-8 overall and 5-3 in league play.
For Samford in the loss,
Parker McDonald went 2-for-5 with two RBI.
Jake Souders went 2-for-5 with one RBI, while
Eddie Marshall also went 2-for-5 at the plate for Samford.
Mason Blasche started the game on the mound for Samford and turned in a strong performance, pitching 5.0 innings, giving up one run on four hits and striking out six batters.
Will Andre pitched 2.0 innings in relief, allowing no runs on two hits and striking out three batters.
Zak Spurrier (1-3) took the loss on the mound for Samford, tossing the final 3.0 innings, giving up three runs, just two earned, on two hits.
"It was a good college baseball game," Samford head coach Tony David said. "Our guys did a great job in the seventh to come back and take the lead with some big hits. Jake and Parker both had big hits. In the end we were just not good enough in the back end of the game. We had too many mistakes, from walks to passed balls to not making plays we can and have to make to win at this level. We have been near perfect on defense this season but were not the last few innings. Mason and Andre were near flawless on the mound. Tonight stings but we have a chance to win a series at home tomorrow. We will take that."
For ETSU, Jamie Palmese went 2-for-5, while Gabe Juarez went 2-for-4 at the plate. Nate Conner homered, going 1-for-5 at the plate. Evan Rolison (3-0) pitched 1.2 hitless innings in relief to earn the win on the mound for the Bucs.
ETSU took the lead on the first at bat of the game when Conner homered to right field for a 1-0 Bucs' lead.
The score remained the same until the bottom of the seventh inning when Samford plated three runs. Souders singled to drive in
Jeffrey Ince to knot the score at 1-1. McDonald later singled to drive in Souders and
Cade Carr to give Samford a 3-1 lead.
In the top of the eighth inning, ETSU plated two runs to tie the game at 3-3. Henry Ferguson scored the first run of the inning on a ground out by Axel Melendez. Later in the inning, Palmese scored on a passed ball to tie the score.
Neither team could score again through the ninth inning and the game headed into extra innings. In the top of the 10
th inning, Melendez scored from third base on a ground out by Ian Guanzon to give ETSU the 4-3 lead. The Bulldogs could not get anything going in the bottom of the 10
th inning and ETSU walked away with the 4-3 win.
The teams will conclude the series with a game Saturday at 1 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The game can be seen live on ESPN+ and live stats will also be available. For links to follow all of Samford's games this season, click on the following link:
2026 SCHEDULE.
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