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Samford wins 2023 SoCon Baseball Championship
Bulldogs win three games Saturday to claim second title in three seasons
GREENVILLE, S.C. – No. 1 seed Samford downed No. 3 seed Wofford 5-2 in its second contest against the Terriers on Saturday to claim the 2023 Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases at Fluor Field.
The Bulldogs (36-23) won three games Saturday, coming back through the losers’ bracket to top No. 6 seed UNCG, 9-5, in the day’s first game to earn the right to take on Wofford for the title. Samford was up to the challenge, downing the Terriers 7-2 in Game 12 of the tournament to force a decisive winner-takes-all Game 13.
The Bulldogs scored three runs in the first inning of that final game and got an outstanding pitching performance from tournament Most Outstanding Player Heath Clevenger in going on to claim their second SoCon Championship in the last three seasons.
With the win, Samford, also the league’s regular-season champion, earned the SoCon’s automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals. The NCAA field will be announced on ESPN2 at noon ET on Monday.
Clevenger, a redshirt freshman right-hander, gave the Bulldogs a season- and career-best 6 2/3 innings with their season on the line, allowing just one run on two hits and two walks in earning the Walt Nadzak Award as the MOP.
After allowing his only run on an RBI single to Brice Martinez in the seventh, Clevenger gave way to SoCon saves leader Ben Petschke, who was making his fourth appearance of the tournament and second of the day. Petschke allowed a run on one hit and a walk in 1 1/3 innings before he was replaced by SoCon Pitcher of the Year Jacob Cravey, who threw a scoreless ninth for his first career save and first relief appearance since 2021.
Samford quickly got on the board in the bottom of the first, getting consecutive singles from Garrett Staton and Jayden Davis and a walk from Stephen Klein to load the bases with no one out. After a strikeout, Lucas Steele lined a sacrifice fly to right to score Staton.
After walking the next batter, Wofford starter Matthew Marchal – who threw 128 pitches Thursday in a complete-game, 15-strikeout effort – seemed to escape further damage when he induced a routine fly ball to right, but the ball was dropped and two more runs scored to stake Samford to a 3-0 lead.
The Bulldogs added a run in the fifth on Davis’s RBI single before the Terriers (40-19) scored in the seventh on the Martinez single and in the eighth on Gunnar Johnson’s RBI single to draw to within 4-2.
Samford added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on Josh Rodriguez’s sac fly to left.
Davis and Andrew Bennett had two hits apiece for Samford, while Dixon Black was 2-for-3 to account for half of Wofford’s four hits in the game.
Marchal (11-4) took the loss after allowing four runs – two earned – on four hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out three to raise his tournament total to 18.
Samford pitcher Brody Westbrooks earned the Pinnacle Award as the student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team.
Walt Nadzak Award (Tournament Most Outstanding Player)
Heath Clevenger, R-Fr., RHP, Samford
Pinnacle Award (highest GPA on championship-winning team)
Brody Westbrooks, Jr., RHP, Samford
All-Tournament Team
SP – Heath Clevenger, Samford
SP – Matthew Marchal, Wofford
RP – Lucas Mahlstedt, Wofford
C – Cameron Gill, Wofford
1B – Ty Dalley, Mercer
2B – Brice Martinez, Wofford
SS – Jack Renwick, Wofford
3B – Jozsef Rohrbacher, Mercer
OF – Treyson Hughes, Mercer
OF – Josh Rodriguez, Samford
OF – Marshall Toole, Wofford
DH – Noah Webb, ETSU
2023 SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
May 24 (Wednesday)
Game 1: #8 The Citadel 5, #5 VMI 2
Game 2: #6 UNCG 4, #7 Western Carolina 3
May 25 (Thursday)
Game 3: #4 ETSU 12, #8 The Citadel 0 (7 inn.)
Game 4: #3 Wofford 6, #6 UNCG 1
Game 5: #1 Samford 2, #4 ETSU 1
Game 6: #3 Wofford 16, #2 Mercer 14
May 26 (Friday)
Game 7: #6 UNCG 4, #4 ETSU 2
Game 8: #2 Mercer 8, #8 The Citadel 1
Game 9: #3 Wofford 7, #1 Samford 6
Game 10: #6 UNCG 9, #2 Mercer 5
May 27 (Saturday)
Game 11: #1 Samford 9, #6 UNCG 5
Game 12: #1 Samford 7, #3 Wofford 7
Game 13: #1 Samford 5, #3 Wofford 2
The Bulldogs (36-23) won three games Saturday, coming back through the losers’ bracket to top No. 6 seed UNCG, 9-5, in the day’s first game to earn the right to take on Wofford for the title. Samford was up to the challenge, downing the Terriers 7-2 in Game 12 of the tournament to force a decisive winner-takes-all Game 13.
The Bulldogs scored three runs in the first inning of that final game and got an outstanding pitching performance from tournament Most Outstanding Player Heath Clevenger in going on to claim their second SoCon Championship in the last three seasons.
With the win, Samford, also the league’s regular-season champion, earned the SoCon’s automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals. The NCAA field will be announced on ESPN2 at noon ET on Monday.
Clevenger, a redshirt freshman right-hander, gave the Bulldogs a season- and career-best 6 2/3 innings with their season on the line, allowing just one run on two hits and two walks in earning the Walt Nadzak Award as the MOP.
After allowing his only run on an RBI single to Brice Martinez in the seventh, Clevenger gave way to SoCon saves leader Ben Petschke, who was making his fourth appearance of the tournament and second of the day. Petschke allowed a run on one hit and a walk in 1 1/3 innings before he was replaced by SoCon Pitcher of the Year Jacob Cravey, who threw a scoreless ninth for his first career save and first relief appearance since 2021.
Samford quickly got on the board in the bottom of the first, getting consecutive singles from Garrett Staton and Jayden Davis and a walk from Stephen Klein to load the bases with no one out. After a strikeout, Lucas Steele lined a sacrifice fly to right to score Staton.
After walking the next batter, Wofford starter Matthew Marchal – who threw 128 pitches Thursday in a complete-game, 15-strikeout effort – seemed to escape further damage when he induced a routine fly ball to right, but the ball was dropped and two more runs scored to stake Samford to a 3-0 lead.
The Bulldogs added a run in the fifth on Davis’s RBI single before the Terriers (40-19) scored in the seventh on the Martinez single and in the eighth on Gunnar Johnson’s RBI single to draw to within 4-2.
Samford added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on Josh Rodriguez’s sac fly to left.
Davis and Andrew Bennett had two hits apiece for Samford, while Dixon Black was 2-for-3 to account for half of Wofford’s four hits in the game.
Marchal (11-4) took the loss after allowing four runs – two earned – on four hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out three to raise his tournament total to 18.
Samford pitcher Brody Westbrooks earned the Pinnacle Award as the student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team.
Walt Nadzak Award (Tournament Most Outstanding Player)
Heath Clevenger, R-Fr., RHP, Samford
Pinnacle Award (highest GPA on championship-winning team)
Brody Westbrooks, Jr., RHP, Samford
All-Tournament Team
SP – Heath Clevenger, Samford
SP – Matthew Marchal, Wofford
RP – Lucas Mahlstedt, Wofford
C – Cameron Gill, Wofford
1B – Ty Dalley, Mercer
2B – Brice Martinez, Wofford
SS – Jack Renwick, Wofford
3B – Jozsef Rohrbacher, Mercer
OF – Treyson Hughes, Mercer
OF – Josh Rodriguez, Samford
OF – Marshall Toole, Wofford
DH – Noah Webb, ETSU
2023 SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
May 24 (Wednesday)
Game 1: #8 The Citadel 5, #5 VMI 2
Game 2: #6 UNCG 4, #7 Western Carolina 3
May 25 (Thursday)
Game 3: #4 ETSU 12, #8 The Citadel 0 (7 inn.)
Game 4: #3 Wofford 6, #6 UNCG 1
Game 5: #1 Samford 2, #4 ETSU 1
Game 6: #3 Wofford 16, #2 Mercer 14
May 26 (Friday)
Game 7: #6 UNCG 4, #4 ETSU 2
Game 8: #2 Mercer 8, #8 The Citadel 1
Game 9: #3 Wofford 7, #1 Samford 6
Game 10: #6 UNCG 9, #2 Mercer 5
May 27 (Saturday)
Game 11: #1 Samford 9, #6 UNCG 5
Game 12: #1 Samford 7, #3 Wofford 7
Game 13: #1 Samford 5, #3 Wofford 2
-www.SoConSports.com-