Samford took the series from UNC Greensboro 2-1.
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Samford pounded out 20 hits on its way to a 14-7 Southern Conference win at UNC Greensboro on Sunday afternoon. The win was the 300th of Samford head coach Casey Dunn's career, with all 300 wins coming at Samford.
After Samford fell behind, 5-2 in the second inning, Parker Curry (5-2) came in out of the bullpen to pitch 5.0 innings, giving up one run on four hits to earn the win. Curry, Mark Donham, Mikel Belcher and Andres Gracia combined to give up just two runs over the last seven innings to help lead Samford to the win.
"All of those guys did a great job," said Dunn. "To only give up two runs over the last seven innings, all out of the bullpen, really says a lot about how far this team has come."
For Samford at the plate, Jared Watson went 4-for-5 with a double, a triple and five RBI. Drew McWhorter went 4-for-6 with a double, a triple and two RBI. Caleb Bryson went 2-for-5 with a double, a triple and three RBI. T.J. Dixon, Tyler Filliben, Heath Quinn and Tripp Martin had two hits each for the Bulldogs.
"Our guys swung the bats really well," said Dunn. "This was a good weekend. To go on the road and get two wins is always good."
UNCG was led by Eric Kalbfleisch, going 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. Zac MacAneney also went 3-for-4 for the Spartans. Dylan Thompson (2-4) pitched 2.2 innings, giving up seven runs on eight hits to take the loss on the mound for UNCG.
Samford jumped out to an early lead with three runs in the top of the first inning. Dixon doubled to lead off the inning, and then moved to third base on an infield single by Filliben. Dixon scored on a ground out by McWhorter for the game's first run. Quinn then singled to drive in Filliben for a 2-0 Samford lead. Bryson then doubled to drive in Quinn to make the score 3-0.
UNCG answered with three runs in the bottom of the first inning to tie the score. With two outs in the inning, Kalbfleisch hit a solo home run to right field to make the score 3-1. Hunter King then doubled, and then scored on a double by Tyler Long for UNCG's second run of the inning. Jordan McDonald then singled up the middle to drive in Long to knot the score at 3-3.
The Spartans took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the second inning. With two outs, MacAneney and Sean Guite hit back-to-back singles. Kalbfleisch then drove in both runners with a single to give UNCG a 5-3 lead.
The Bulldogs plated four runs in the top of the third inning to take a 7-5 lead. McWhorter singled, and Quinn and Bryson walked to load the bases with no outs. Watson then tripled, driving in all three runners to give Samford the lead. Brandon Powell then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Watson for a two-run Bulldog lead.
Samford added two runs in the top of the fourth inning to push its lead to 9-5. McWhorter doubled to lead off the inning. Quinn then singled, moving McWhorter to third base. McWhorter then scored on a balk, and Quinn moved to second base. With one out in the inning, Watson singled up the middle to drive in Quinn to give Samford a four-run lead.
The Bulldogs plated three runs in the top of the sixth inning to make the score 12-5. McWhorter singled and Quinn was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Bryson then tripled to left-center field to drive in McWhorter and Quinn for the first two runs of the inning. Watson then singled to drive in Bryson for Samford's 12th run of the contest.
UNCG added a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut the Samford lead to 12-6. MacAneney singled to right field to lead off the inning. With one out in the inning, Kalbfleisch singled, moving MacAneney to second base. King then singled to drive in MacAneney to bring UNCG to within six runs.
Samford plated a run in the eighth inning and another in the ninth to push its lead to 14-6. In the eighth inning, Watson doubled with one out, and moved to third base on a single by Powell. Martin then hit a sacrifice fly to score Watson. In the ninth inning, Filliben singled with one out. McWhorter then tripled to drive in Filliben for Samford's final run of the game.
UNCG plated its final run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Kalbfleisch walked to lead off the inning. He later scored from third base on a sacrifice fly by McDonald to make the final score 14-7.
With the win, Samford took the series and improved to 28-20 overall and 12-9 in Southern Conference play.. UNCG fell to 21-21 overall and 8-10 in SoCon play.
