BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford junior catcher
Cade Carr scored from third base when freshman
Eddie Marshall reached on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Samford baseball team walked off Wofford, 7-6, in the first game of a three-game Southern Conference series Thursday evening at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
With the win, Samford improved to 27-23 overall and 11-8 in Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs are now tied with Wofford for third in the SoCon standings with just two games left in the regular season. Wofford fell to 33-19 overall and 11-8 in league play.
The teams went into the bottom of the ninth inning tied at 6-6. Carr led the inning off with a ground-rule double to center field. With one out in the inning,
Luke Boykin was intentionally walked.
Trey Higgins then singled to right field, with Carr moving to third base and Boykin moving to second base to load the bases. Marshall then hit a ground ball to third base and Carr beat the throw home to give Samford the 7-6, walk-off win.
For Samford in the game, Higgins, Marshall and
Parker McDonald each homered in three-straight at-bats in the first inning. Higgins was 2-for-3 with two RBI. Carr went 3-for-5 with a triple, a double and one RBI. Boykin went 2-for-4 with two doubles for the Bulldogs.
Zak Spurrier (3-3) earned the win on the mound for Samford, pitching 2.0 hitless innings of relief.
Joseph Lee started the game on the mound for Samford, tossing 4.0 innings, giving up five runs on five hits.
John Whitney pitched 3.0 innings in relief, allowing one run on three hits.
For Wofford, Lucas Manning went 2-for-4 with a home run and one RBI. Logan Tribble went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Nico Brini drove in three runs, going 1-for-5 with a triple. Branton Little (3-3) pitched 2.1 innings, giving up two runs on three hits to take the loss on the mound for the Terriers.
Samford jumped on top first with five runs in the bottom of the first inning. Carr tripled to right field to drive in
Jeffrey Ince for the game's first run. Carr then scored on a sacrifice fly by
Jake Souders to make the score 2-0. With two outs in the inning, Higgins, Marshall and McDonald hit back-to-back-to-back solo home runs for a 5-0 Samford lead.
Wofford plated five runs in the top of the second inning to knot the score at 5-5. Brini drove in three of the runs with a bases-loaded triple. Tanner Hardin and Tribble also drove in a run each in the inning.
In the top of the sixth inning, Manning homered to left-center field to give Wofford a 6-5 lead. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Souders scored from third base on a sacrifice fly by Higgins to tie the score at 6-6 and set the stage for the ninth-inning walk-off run.
The teams will continue their series with a game Friday at 4 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
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