AUBURN, Ala. – The Samford baseball team tallied four runs over the eighth and ninth innings but ultimately fell 5-4 to the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday evening in game four of the NCAA Auburn Regional.
With the loss, Samford drops to 37-24 overall while Penn improves to 34-14.
Garrett Staton led the Bulldogs at the plate with a two-RBI effort, all coming on a two-run shot in the eighth inning. Kaden Dreier and Stephen Klein each logged a hit and a run on the night.
Brody Westbrooks (3-4) shouldered the loss, surrendering five runs on eight hits while striking out five in 4 2/3 innings of labor.
Sophomore Jacob Newman held the Quakers in check out of the bullpen, tossing 4 1/3 innings of one-hit baseball while striking out three.
The Quakers wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, tallying a pair of runs on an RBI single by Ben Miller and a run-scoring groundout to first by Davis Baker in the first inning. A pair of one-out knocks by Jackson Appel and Wyatt Henseler set the stage for the inning.
Penn added a run in the second on an RBI single by Cole Paris before tacking on two more in the fifth. The Quackers knocked a total of three hits in the inning, with RBI contributions from Henseler on a double to left center and Miller on a single to left.
The 5-0 score held until the eighth when Staton's 10th home run of the campaign cut the Bulldogs' deficit to 5-2. Dreier led off the frame with a single to right before being brought in on Staton's two-out, two-run blast.
The Bulldogs loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth on a pair of hit batsmen and a walk by John Anderson. Samford scored its first run of the inning on an RBI groundout by Howe to the pitcher.
The final out of the game was made on a play that began with a ground ball off the bat of Josh Rodriguez that resulted in a throwing error by Penn second baseman Ryan Taylor. Upon reception of the errant throw, Quaker first baseman Ben Miller threw behind pinch-runner Aaron Walton at third base for a 4-3-5 putout on a play that went to review but was upheld.
“I thought our guys battled like crazy to the end. It's really what we've done all year,” head coach Tony David said. “Their guy did a really good job of kind of keeping us in check for most of the game, primarily with just the fastball. It kind of got up on us a little bit early on in the game. We thought we hit some balls well into the shift. A lot of our guys never had the shift on and I'm not sure how much that played or not played into the game. But once we got rolling, we gave ourselves a chance that maybe one more camera angle might have given us a shot at the end.”
The Bulldogs now have a rematch with Southern Miss on Sunday in an elimination game. First pitch from Plainsman Park is set for 2 p.m. (CST).