BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford's Maurice Hampton Jr. and Andrew Bennett each hit a grand slam to lift the Bulldog baseball team to an 8-6 win over defending national champion Mississippi State Tuesday night at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 23-23 on the season. Mississippi State falls to 25-24 with the loss.
 
Hampton went 1-for-2 with his grand slam, driving in four runs. Bennett was 1-for-4 at the plate, also driving in four runs. Towns King, Colton Ledbetter and Will David had two hits each on the night for Samford.
 
"Obviously, that was two big swings," Samford head coach Tony David said. "It's hard to overcome two grand slams, although they came close. Big swing by Mo there early, and then by Bennett to get that one, both of those balls went a long way. We played great defense all night, we turned a couple of really, really big double plays. It was a great win for us against an incredible program and it's something for our guys to build on heading into the weekend."
 
Will Lynch started the game on the mound for Samford, tossing 4.2 innings, giving up four runs on six hits. Alex Goff (5-2) earned the win for the home Bulldogs, pitching 1.1 hitless innings of relief. Jacob Newman pitched 1.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits, and Carson Hobbs picked up his ninth save of the season, tossing the final 1.1 innings without allowing a hit.
 
"Another great job by our guys," David said. "Will Lynch gave us a really good start. Goff did what he does, he came in and got us out of a jam."
 
For Mississippi State at the plate, R.J. Yeager went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Kamren James went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI, while Hunter Hines went 2-for-5 with a double and one RBI. Mikey Tepper (1-2) took the loss on the mound for MSU, tossing 2.2 innings, giving up six runs on two hits.
 
Samford jumped out to an early lead with four runs in the bottom of the first inning. King walked, Ledbetter singled and Stephen Klein walked to load the bases with one out. Hampton then hit a grand slam to left field to give the home Bulldogs a 4-0 lead.
 
In the bottom of the third inning, Ledbetter and Hampton walked, and David singled to load the bases with two outs. Bennett then hit a grand slam to left field for an 8-0 Samford lead.
 
Mississippi State plated three runs in the top of the fourth inning to cut the Samford lead to 8-3. Yeager singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Jess Davis and James for the first two runs of the inning. The final run of the inning was scored when Lane Forsythe scored on a ground out by Luke Hancock.
 
MSU added another run in the top of the fifth inning to make the score 8-4. James doubled to center field to drive in Kellum Clark to bring the visiting Bulldogs to within four runs. In the top of the seventh inning, MSU's Hines scored when James reached on a fielder's choice to cut the lead to 8-5. The visiting Bulldogs added another run in the eighth inning when Hines singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Yeager to make the score 8-6.
 
Samford will next travel to Charleston, S.C., for a three-game Southern Conference series at The Citadel Bulldogs this weekend. The teams are scheduled to play Friday at 5 p.m. (CT), Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT) and Sunday at 12 p.m. (CT).


 
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