Box Score

Birmingham, Ala. - Samford matched a season-high with 19 hits and received a strong pitching performance from starter Alex Ledford as the Bulldogs handed Western Carolina a 13-4 loss in the Southern Conference series opener on Friday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Five Bulldogs collected multi-hit games including a 5-for-5, five RBI outing by freshman Alex Edens. On the mound, Ledford (7-4) and the Bulldogs hurlers limited WCU to five hits, working the first five frames hitless. He finished with seven strikeouts against two walks, allowing four runs on four hits in seven and a third on the mound.

Freshman Matthew Koehler paced Western Carolina (18-25, 9-10 SoCon) with a two-hit outing, finishing 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Sophomore Matt Smith collected a double in a 1-for-4 outing, tallying a RBI on an infield ground out with freshman Brett Pope reaching twice with a single and a walk.

Senior Bradley Strong collected his 18th career triple, scoring on the same play after a subsequent Samford throwing error that careened into the WCU dugout. Strong is now tied for third in SoCon history for career triples, matching former UNCG standout Corey Overholtzer (20, 2007-10). He is just one triple shy of second-place Tony Martin of ETSU who had 19 triples from 1980-83 and two behind all-time record holder, Lee Curtis of the College of Charleston (20, 2002-03).

Samford (27-21, 12-7 SoCon) jumped out to an 8-0 lead through the first five frames before the Catamounts were able to scratch the scoreboard. Koehler broke up Ledford's no-hitter with a double down the left field line, eventually scoring on Matt Smith's infield groundout to break-up the shutout.

Trailing 11-1, the Catamounts hung their only crooked number on the scoreboard with a three-spot to make it 11-4. Strong opened the frame with his triple and run ahead of Kramer Ferrell and Brett Pope who drew back-to-back walks. A wild pitch allowed both runners to move into scoring position where Garrett Brown plating a run on an infield ground out before Koehler capped WCU's scoring with a RBI single into right field.

Samford provided the final tally with a pair of runs scoring in the bottom of the seventh inning, 13-4.

Sophomore Korey Anderson (3-4) suffered the loss, tossing five and a third in his first start on Friday night for the Catamounts. The Grayson, Ga., native struck out five against three walks, but was touched-up for 11 runs - 10 earned - on 15 hits. Freshmen relieves Dylan Biumi and Drew Bolick combined to toss the final 2.2 innings, both with two strikeouts apiece. Biumi surrendered two runs on three hits while Bolick, who matched his career-high for strikeouts, tossed an inning of one-hit, scoreless relief.

Behind Edens' strong offensive outing for the Bulldogs, catcher Richard Greene tallied a 3-for-5 outing with a three-run home run while both Heath Quinn and Alex Lee finished 2-for-4, the latter plating a pair of runs.

Game two of the series is scheduled for Saturday afternoon with first pitch at 3:00 pm ET / 2:00 pm CT.