Samford advanced to its fourth SoCon title game in five years.
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Samford plated 25 runs on 23 hits to take a 25-4 win against Wofford in the semifinals of the Southern Conference tournament on Saturday evening at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
Samford scored 10 runs in the first inning and nine runs in the second inning to overcome an early two-run deficit and pull away for the 25-4 win.
"That was a great job offensively by our guys early," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "I thought Mark Donham did an unbelievable job for us on the mound. He struggled a little bit in the first. Our offense did a good job of answering, and after that, Mark did a great job of settling in."
With the win, Samford improves to 32-25 on the season. The Bulldogs advance to Sunday's SoCon tournament championship game against Mercer. This marks the fourth time in the past five years Samford has reached the SoCon tournament championship game.
In the game, Samford set SoCon tournament records for runs scored by a team (25), RBI by a single player (8 by Heath Quinn), home runs by a single player (two each by Quinn and Austin Edens) and RBI for a team (25).
Individually for Samford, Heath Quinn went 4-for-6 with two home runs and eight RBI. Brandon Powell went 4-for-6 with two doubles and one RBI. Austin Edens went 3-for-6 with two home runs and five RBI. Danny Rodriguez went 3-for-6 with a home run and six RBI. Richard Greene, Frankie Navarrete and T.J. Dixon had two hits each for the Bulldogs. Samford's five home runs as a team give the Bulldogs a nation-leading 85 for the season.
Mark Donham (4-1) pitched 6.0 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits to earn the win on the mound for Samford. He struck out four batters and walked just one. Tristan Widra and Jake Greer also saw time on the mound in the game for Samford.
For Wofford, James Plaisted went 3-for-5 at the plate. Conor Clancey went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Connell Anderson (1-2) pitched a third of an inning, giving up six runs, four earned, on four hits to take the loss on the mound for the Terriers.
After Wofford jumped on top with two runs in the top of the first inning, Samford took control of the game with 10 runs in the bottom of the first inning. In the bottom of the first, Quinn batted twice, tallying a one-run single and a grand slam.Jared Watson drove in two runs, while Rodriguez, Greene and Dixon drove in a run each.
Samford added nine runs in the second inning to push its lead to 19-2. In the inning, Edens and Rodriguez hit a pair of three-run home runs, while Edens drove in two runs and Quinn drove in one.
Samford pushed its lead to 21-2 with two runs in the sixth inning. After Wofford plated two runs in the top of the eighth inning, Samford added four runs in the bottom of the eighth to make the final score 25-4.
