Box Score

Birmingham, Ala. - Redshirt senior Bryson Bowman belted his team-leading ninth home run as a part of a perfect 4-for-4 showing at the plate as Western Carolina evened its best-of-three Southern Conference road series with Samford, claiming a 6-5 victory on a hot and humid day at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

* UPDATE: First pitch of Sunday's series rubber match has been bumped to a 1:00 pm ET / Noon CT first pitch.

Bowman hit a two-run home run in the first inning to extend both of his impressive offensive streaks, reaching for the 42nd-straight game -- every game WCU has played this season -- while extending his hitting streak to 27-consecutive. Pope also collected a multi-hit game, finishing 3-for-5 including a lead-off triple in the top of the first inning when he scored one of his three runs.

Suzuki finished 1-for-4 with the two-run home run, while senior Matt Smith doubled in a 1-for-3 outing, also drawing a walk to stretch his reached base safely streak to 24-straight.

Tied at two through five complete innings, WCU (22-20, 11-6 SoCon) scored three runs in the top of the sixth to grab a lead it would never relinquish. Brett Pope reached on a one-out single ahead of Nobu Suzuki who hit a line drive home run to left field, the second round-tripper for the Catamounts in the win. WCU then got back-to-back doubles by Bowman -- who finished a triple shy of the cycle -- and classmate Matt Smith to plate a third run to lead, 5-2.

The two teams traded runs in the bottom of the seventh and top of the eighth as the Bulldogs cashed in on a lead-off walk by Ayrton Schafer who scored from third on a wild pitch. In the top of the eighth, Bowman singled home Pope to add an insurance marker as the Catamounts led 6-3 entering the home half of the eighth inning.

Samford (25-18, 6-8 SoCon) closed the deficit to just one with two runs in the home half of the eighth inning. Outfielder Jordan Fucci led-off with a home run that carried the fence in right field to make it a two-run game, 6-4. Then with two outs, the Bulldogs capitalized on an inning-extending walk ahead of two singles including a RBI to left by Anthony Mulrine to make it 6-5.

Fucci and Taylor Garris both collected two hits for the Bulldogs in 2-for-5 and 2-for-4 outings, respectively.

After WCU went in order in the top of the ninth, Catamount closer B.J. Nobles worked through the top three in Bulldog line-up 1-2-3 including a pair of strikeouts to save the win for the Catamounts.

WCU sophomore Tristan Baker (4-2) threw up six and a third solid innings on the mound for the Catamounts, surrendering three runs on just six hits. The Charlotte, N.C., struck out three against three walks before exiting in the seventh. Overall, two of Samford's runs, two of the walks, and three of the Bulldogs' hits came in the first inning alone. Baker settled to retire 14-consecutive batters including the final two of the opening frame and four-straight, 1-2-3 innings between the second and fifth innings.

Senior reliever Korey Anderson struck out one against a walk in an inning and two thirds of two-run, three-hit relief out of the bullpen before classmate B.J. Nobles struck out two in tossing a perfect ninth inning to score his fourth save of the season.

Bulldog starter Mikhail Cazenave (3-6) was saddled with the loss, giving up five earned runs on eight hits through five and two-thirds innings of work. The right-hander did not walk anyone while striking out three. Left-handed reliever Hamp Skinner was tagged for one run on two hits, walking three against a strikeout, while Luke Corbin tossed an inning and a third of one-hit relief.

Coverage of Sunday's game three is available through the Catamount Sports Network with an air time of 12:45 pm ET / 11:45 am CT. Fans can also follow the game with live streaming video through the SoCon Digital Network, produced by Samford.