CHARLESTON, S.C. – On Saturday morning, Wofford scored six runs in the third inning on the way to a 12-8 win over Samford in the semifinals of the 2015 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament presented by Mountain Shore Properties at Riley Park. The two teams will meet again on Saturday evening, with the winner advancing to the title game on Sunday.
 
Wofford is 39-21 overall, while Samford is 31-25 on the season. Samford had a 16 to 15 lead in hits, while both teams left 12 runners on base. Wofford stole seven bases and took advantage of six walks in the game. The Terriers were led by Carson Waln with three hits and a pair of RBIs, while Derek Hirsch added three hits. The Bulldogs had four hits from Danny Rodriguez, including a home run.

"The thing about playing Samford and us is that we know each other so well," said head coach Todd Interdonato. "We played the last three games of the regular season last year against them. We played them twice in the tournament last year. We didn't play them too long ago three times and we are about to play them three times again. I feel like we know each other inside and out. It will come down to who can execute, play better baseball, and play to their strengths. We caught some breaks early. We were definitely not hitting balls hard early but they were falling to get us started. I hoped that would give us some confidence. After scoring one run last night, it's hard to get going, but when a couple of those fell in, I thought our guys loosened up and started hitting some balls hard."

The Bulldogs had a single and a walk in the top of the first inning, but a strikeout stranded runners on the corners. Alec Paradowski led off the bottom of the first with an infield single. After a ground out, a single to left field by James Plaisted scored Paradowski for a 1-0 lead. Plaisted was on third base after a balk and ground out when a single by Carson Waln made it a 2-0 score at the end of the first.
 
Samford led off the second inning with a single. After a hit by pitch with one out, a passed ball moved the runners into scoring position. A walk loaded the bases with two outs. A strikeout looking ended the top of the second with three runners stranded. Derek Hirsch added a single with two outs in the bottom of the second, but he was left on base.
 
In the top of the third inning, Heath Quinn singled and moved to second on an error. A double by Austin Edens down the left line made it a 2-1 game. A hit by pitch was followed by a sacrifice bunt to put runners at second and third. An RBI single by Danny Rodriguez tied the game at 2-2 and a sacrifice fly gave Samford a 3-2 lead.
 
Matt Ramsay led off the bottom of the third with a single to left field. He stole second with one out and Conor Clancey reached on an error for runners on the corners. A single up the middle by Carson Waln drove in Ramsay to tie the game at 3-3. A double by Kody Ruedisili to the wall in left field gave Wofford a 4-3 advantage. Max McDougald hit a ball to right field that bounced over the wall for a ground rule double and two runs crossed the plate for a 6-3 lead. A single by Demetrius Jennings was followed by a sacrifice bunt by Derek Hirsch to score McDougald to make it 7-3. Alec Paradowski walked and on a double steal Jennings scored for an 8-3 lead before a ground out ended the third inning.
 
Samford was retired in order in the top of the fourth inning. Carson Waln hit his third single of the day in the bottom of the fourth with two outs. A double to the corner in left field by Kody Ruedisili drove in Waln for a 9-4 score. The Bulldogs opened the fifth inning with back-to-back singles. With two outs, a single loaded the bases. A fly ball to center ended the top half with three runners left on base.
 
Demetrius Jennings reached on an error to begin the bottom of the fifth and Derek Hirsch followed with a single. A walk to Alec Paradowski loaded the bases and a walk to Matt Ramsay made it a 10-3 game. Back-to-back strikeouts ended the fifth inning with three runners stranded.
 
The Bulldogs were retired in order in the top of the sixth inning. Wofford had a runner reach on a walk in the bottom of the sixth, but a double play ended the inning. Samford had a single with one out in the top of the seventh inning. After a hit by pitch, a single drove in a run for a 10-4 score. A double by Richard Greene plated two runs to cut the lead to 10-6 before the seventh inning stretch.
 
Derek Hirsch led off the bottom of the seventh with a single through the left side. James Plaisted was hit by a pitch with two outs. Conor Clancey had an infield single that allowed Hirsch to score and it was an 11-6 lead for the Terriers. A double steal put runners at second and third base, but a strikeout stranded the runners in scoring position. Samford opened the eighth inning with a single. After a strikeout, a single up the middle and ground out put two runners in scoring position.  Foul ball that was caught by Conor Clancey in the bullpen ended the top of the eighth.
 
With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Max McDougald singled and Demetrius Jennings walked. On a strikeout, the runners stole second and third. Alec Paradowski was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A walk with two outs to Matt Ramsay pushed across a run for a 12-6 advantage. A fly ball ended the eighth inning with the bases loaded.
 
In the top of the ninth inning, Danny Rodriguez led off with a solo home run to right field to make it a 12-7 game. A strikeout and fly ball to right field were followed by a solo home run from T.J. Dixon. A strikeout ended the game with Wofford winning 12-8.
 
Wofford starter Matt Milburn (10-3) went 6.2 innings on short rest and allowed six runs on 12 hits with seven strikeouts. David Ehmen retired the lone batter he faced to end the seventh inning. John Caskey went the final two innings with two runs allowed on four hits, along with three strikeouts.
 
Eric Wright (2-4) started for Samford and went 2.1 innings with seven runs allowed on eight hits. Jesse Travis worked 1.2 innings with three runs given up on four hits and three walks. Devan Traglia threw 3.2 innings and allowed two runs on three hits with four strikeouts. Cole Limbaugh retired the lone batter he faced.
 
Wofford and Samford will meet again at 5:00 p.m. today, with the winner advancing to the championship game Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.