GREENVILLE, S.C. – The third-seeded Samford baseball team fell to fifth seeded The Citadel, 3-1, in the championship game of the Southern Conference Tournament Saturday evening at Fluor Field.
Woth the loss Samford ended its season with a record of 31-25. The Citadel improved its record to 35-24 and earned the Southern Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Samford second baseman
Jeffrey Ince, shortstop
Gus Gandy, pitcher
Mason Blasche and outfielder
Luke Boykin were all named to the All-Tournament team.
For Samford in the loss,
Pierce Dutton drove in a run in a 1-for-3 performance. Ince,
Cade Carr and
Eddie Marshall also had one hit each for Samford.
Noah Berry (5-3) pitched 1.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford.
Andrew Marble pitched 5.2 strong innings in relief, allowing one run on four hits and striking out four batters.
Austin Tommasini pitched the final 1.2 innings, allowing just two hits.
For The Citadel, Jayden Williams went 3-for-5 with a double. Christian Stratis went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Zach Hunt went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Sam Dansky also drove in a run, going 1-for-4 at the plate.
Will Holmes (7-4) pitched 7.0 innings, allowing one run on two hits and striking out 10 batters to earn the win on the mound for The Citadel. Michael Gibson picked up his 10
th save of the season, pitching 1.1 hitless innings in relief.
The Citadel plated two runs in the top of the first inning to take the early lead. Stratis singled through the left side of the infield to drive in T.J. Anderson for the game's first run. Hunt then singled up the middle to drive in Gibson to make the score 2-0.
Samford plated its run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Parker McDonald scored from third base on a ground out by Dutton to cut the lead to 2-1.
The Citadel added one final run in the eighth inning to push the lead to 3-1. Dansky doubled down the left-field line to drive in Hunt for the game's final run.
This marked the fourth-straight season Samford has reached the finals of the Southern Conference Tournament, including winning the 2023 title.
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS
For the latest news and information on Samford baseball, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at
SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at
/SamfordBaseball (Facebook),
@SamfordBaseball (Instagram) and
@SamfordBaseball (Twitter).
