CHARLESTON, S.C. – On Friday morning, the Wofford College baseball team was defeated 4-3 by Samford in the 2015 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament presented by Mountain Shore Properties at Riley Park. Wofford took a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth inning, but the Bulldogs scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to advance to the semifinals. The Terriers face Furman at 5:00 p.m. in an elimination game.
 
Wofford is 37-21 overall, while Samford is 31-24 this season. The Terriers had a 12 to 8 advantage in hits, but left eleven runners on base. Derek Hirsh led the team with two hits and a pair of RBIs. The Bulldogs were led by Frankie Navarrete with two hits.

"This was a very good baseball game. We had some opportunities early, but they did a good job getting out of jams," said head coach Todd Interdonato. "Parker Curry pitched great. I was very proud of our team continuing to create opportunities. We were able to come through there in the eighth, but you have to give Samford a lot of credit. That was an emotional swing on our side, when we were able to take the lead, but they came back and created other opportunities. They had their chances in the eighth and again in the ninth, so you have to give them a lot of credit.
 
"I thought we made some big pitches, but they had some big hits, as well. They tried to sac bunt in the ninth and it didn't work out, but T.J. Dixon stayed in the at-bat and ended up getting a double. You have to give them a lot of credit. We're going to look at our plays and see what we could have done differently, but this was just a good baseball game. Hopefully, we'll get another crack at them tomorrow."

With one out in the top of the first, Matt Ramsay singled up the middle. He stole second and moved to third on a throwing error on the play. Conor Clancey was hit by a pitch with two outs and Carson Waln walked to load the bases. A fly ball ended the top of the first with three runners stranded. Samford had runners reach on a single and an error, but both were left on base to end the first inning.
 
Demetrius Jennings had a single with one out in the top of the second inning and Alec Paradowski singled with two outs. A fielder's choice ended the scoring chance for the Terriers. Samford led off the bottom of the second with a single and the runner advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. A single by Richard Greene drove in the first run of the game and after two innings the Bulldogs had a 1-0 lead.
 
James Plaisted led off the third inning with a single, but was out on a fielder's choice by Conor Clancey. Carson Waln singled, however both runners were left on base to end the top half of the third. Heath Quinn singled for Samford in the bottom of the third and stole second base. A pair of strikeouts ended the third inning.
 
The Terriers were retired in order in the top of the fourth inning. Samford had two batters hit by pitch and a single to load the bases in the bottom of the fourth. A strikeout and fielder's choice ended the inning with three runners stranded. Wofford was retired in order in the top of the fifth inning.
 
Samford added a run in the bottom of the fifth when Austin Edens hit a solo home run to right center. It was his 14th home run of the season as Samford took a 2-0 lead. Back-to-back strikeouts ended the fifth innings. Carson Waln led off the top of the sixth with an infield single and Kody Ruedisili followed with a single. A double play on an attempted sacrifice bunt and fly ball ended the top half of the sixth inning.
 
The Bulldogs were retired in order in the bottom of the sixth inning. Derek Hirsch opened the seventh inning with a single, but the next three batters were retired to send the game to the seventh inning stretch. T.J. Dixon was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the seventh for the Bulldogs, but he was picked off. A strikeout a fly ball ended the seventh inning.
 
Conor Clancey had a double, his 27th of the season, to open the eighth inning. Kody Ruedisili walked with one out. A pinch hit single with two outs by Pete Carrier drove in Clancey to make it a 2-1 game. Matt Pelt stole second as a pinch runner. A single to the shortstop by Derek Hirsch plated Ruedisili and Pelt to take a 3-2 lead. Alec Paradowski added a single through the left side to put runners on the corners with two outs. A strikeout ended the top of the eighth with two runners left in scoring position.
 
Samford led off the bottom of the eighth with back-to-back walks. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners into scoring position. Back-to-back strikeouts ended the scoring chance for the Bulldogs. Wofford was retired in order in the top of the ninth inning. Frankie Navarrete hit a ground rule double to start the bottom of the ninth. T.J. Dixon added a double that advanced Navarrete to third base. The tying run scored on a wild pitch, moving Dixon to third base. After a strikeout, back-to-back intentional walks loaded the bases. A strikeout gave Samford two outs, but a bases loaded walk on a full count gave Samford a 4-3 win.
 
Wofford starter Luke Leftwich threw seven innings and gave up two runs on six hits. He struck out nine batters, giving him 114 on the season to lead the Southern Conference. The 114 strikeouts are the most in a single season at Wofford since 1956 (Tom McIntyre) and his 261 career strikeouts are third in school history. Will Stillman (1-1) went 1.2 innings and allowed two runs on two hits. He had four strikeouts, but walked five batters in the loss.
 
Parker Curry started for Samford and went 6.1 innings without allowing a run on eight hits. Mark Donham did not allow a runner in two-thirds of an inning. Andres Gracia (2-0) threw two innings with three runs allowed on four hits and three strikeouts as he earned his second win of the tournament.
 
Wofford will play at 5:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon against Furman, while Samford advances to play on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. in the semifinals against the winner of the Wofford/Furman game.