GREENVILLE, S.C. – The third-seeded Samford baseball team advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament with a 9-5 win over second-seeded Western Carolina Thursday afternoon at Fluor Field.
With the win, Samford improved its record to 30-24 on the season, while Western Carolina fell to 35-22. Samford advanced to the tournament semifinals where the Bulldogs will play on Friday at 11:30 a.m. (CT) against the winner of Thursday evening's game between Western Carolina and UNC Greensboro.
In the win for Samford,
Jeffrey Ince went 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and three RBI.
Jake Souders went 3-for-5 with a double and one RBI.
Luke Boykin went 2-for-5 with a double, a home run and three RBI.
Gus Gandy went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
Samford starting pitcher
Noah Berry had to leave the game in the first inning after getting hit by a lined drive.
John Whitney (3-0) came in and pitched 3.1 innings, giving up no runs on three hits and striking out three batters to earn the win on the mound for Samford.
John Malone,
Austin Tommasini and
Zak Spurrier also saw time on the mound for Samford.
For Western Carolina, Noah Quarless and Mason Holton each homered in the loss. Carter Burnette (2-9) took the loss on the mound for the Catamounts, tossing 5.2 innings, allowing five runs on five hits.
Samford jumped on top first with a run in the top of the first inning when Souders doubled to drive in Ince to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. In the fourth inning, Samford added two runs when Gandy singled to drive in a run and
Parker McDonald scored on a wild pitch to push the lead to 3-0. In the top of the sixth inning, Ince drove in two runs with a double to make the score 5-0.
After Western Carolina plated its first run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, Boykin doubled to drive in a run in the seventh inning for a 6-1 Samford lead. WCU added two runs in the bottom of the seventh to cut the lead to 6-3, but Ince homered in the top of the eighth inning to make it 7-3.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Catamounts added two runs to cut the lead to 7-5. In the top of the ninth inning, Boykin hit a two-run home run to left field to make the final score 9-5.
Samford's game against the Western Carolina-UNCG winner is scheduled for Friday at 11:30 a.m. (CT). The game can be seen live on ESPN+. For links to follow all of Samford's games this season, click on the following link:
2026 SCHEDULE.
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