BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 12, 2024) – Samford hit three home runs on its way to a 9-6 win over the ETSU baseball team on Friday night in Southern Conference action. With Friday's loss, the Bucs move to 20-11 overall and 5-5 in SoCon play.
 
ETSU had no shortage of offense on Friday with 12 hits in contest. Tommy Barth matched a season-high with three hits on the day. Barth is now batting .500 (10-for-20) in his last four games. Nick Iannantone and Cody Miller each added two-hit days as well. Iannantone (15 multi-hit games) and Miller (14 multi-hit games) have now combined for 29 multi-hit games this season.
 
The Bucs used just three pitchers on Friday. Carter Fink made his second consecutive series-opening start and worked the first 3.2 innings. In those 3.2 innings, Fink allowed three runs on four hits. Kenny Keller made his team-high 15^th appearance following Fink and allowed one run on one hit. Freshman Jace Hyde pitched the final four innings for ETSU. Hyde was especially good late as the last eight outs he recorded were on strikeouts. Hyde finished the night with a career-high 10 strikeouts against the Bulldogs. It also marks the first double-digit strikeout game for a Buccaneer pitcher since Nathaniel Tate struck out 11 at VMI last May.
 
The two starting pitchers began Friday's matchup with two scoreless innings. ETSU would break the tie in the third with a two-out rally. Iannantone doubled and Barth followed with an RBI single to give the Bucs a 1-0 lead. Samford was quick to answer with a run of their own in their half of the third to tie the score 1-1.
 
ETSU and Samford matched each other in the fourth inning as well. Jackson Green (sacrifice fly) and Jamie Palmese (RBI single) brought home a pair of runs for the Bucs. Samford, however, mirrored the Bucs with a two-run fourth with a solo home run and a run-scoring single.
 
Cameron Sisneros gave the Buccaneers another lead in the fifth with a solo home run. It was his ninth home run of the season and his third in the month of April. Unlike the third and fourth, the Bulldogs not only answered but also took the lead in the fifth. A pair of walks led into a big three-run home run by the Bulldogs to put them on top, 6-4. Another three-run inning in the sixth gave Samford more breathing room and a five-run lead heading into the late innings.
 
The Bucs did chip off a couple of runs from Samford's lead late. Noah Gent drove in his 12^th run in his last seven games with a single in the seventh. Green knocked in his second run of the night with a groundout as well. Despite the flurry of strikeouts from Hyde to keep Samford scoreless in the seventh and eighth, the Bulldogs held on for the 9-6 win.
 
The Bucs and Bulldogs will resume their series tomorrow afternoon. First pitch for that contest is set for 3 p.m. eastern time on ESPN+.

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