JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With the bases-loaded in the ninth, junior JJ Gould (1-for-3) laid down the bunt, scoring Parker Perez (1-for-4) as the Jacksonville University baseball team walk-off to a 5-4 win against Samford on Saturday afternoon. The Dolphins improve their record to 8-10, while the Bulldogs fall to 6-8. The series concludes with the rubber match set for Sunday at Sessions Stadium for 1 p.m first pitch.

Tied 4-4 in the ninth inning, Perez would leadoff with a single to center field and Alex Seifert (1-for-2) would lay down a bunt, reaching base by hustling up the line and an errant throw put Perez on third. 

Cameron Gibson (0-for-3) was issued the free-pass to load the bases. Unbeknownst to Samford, Gould would square and deliver the bunt on the 1-0 pitch placed down third-base, scoring Perez who was already halfway home and the Dolphins walked-off with a 5-4 win.

"We told JJ that if the pitch was up in the zone, hammer it," said head coach Tim Montez. "If the pitcher gets behind in the count, look for the squeeze. He got the perfect pitch and he executed very well. Hats off to my coaching staff, everyone was on the same page today and it was a great team victory."

The Dolphins trailed 4-3 in the eighth, after a two-run homerun delivered by Hunter Swilling. But junior Connor Marabell (1-for-3) would answer back, quickly delivering the power to opposite field for a solo-homerun, his first of 2015, tying the effort at four.

"That's what we are looking for guys that can bounce back and learn from their mistakes answering back, you can live with it," said Montez. "After last night, we told the team whoever came out and had the most energy and grinded the most, was going to win this game."

Senior Drew Luther would break the 2-2 tie through five innings, when in the sixth the veteran would drive the eighth pitch of the at-bat over the leftfield wall for his first homerun of the season.

Luther has been red-hot at the dish, driving in four RBI the last three games with two extra-base hits, "I started off slow for the season," said Luther. "Each at bat I just try to live in the moment and not worry about the past. (The pitcher) wasn't throwing very hard and I was able to foul off a couple pitches, missing one I really wanted. I regrouped and got another pitch over the dish and took advantage of it."

A total combined effort, Luther's batterymate Jeff Tanner was stellar after a career-high seven strong innings, striking out four. Two coming in the final frame for the redshirt-junior.

"I knew I was going to have to grind it out today against a team that puts a lot of barrel on the ball," said Tanner. "I got my second-wind in me during that last inning after [coach Montez] came out to talk to me and calmed me down. I wanted to finish my outing and God-willing I got that last strikeout."

Using a 92 MPH fastball to set down the first batter of the seventh, Tanner would elect 77 MPH slider, knowing the batter and former teammate at Episcopal Jared Watson.

"He knows my pitches because he caught for me at Episcopal," said Tanner. "I told Luther, he's not getting another fastball. I just had to get control of my slider and thankfully it was the pitch that set him down, getting us out of the inning."

Spencer Stockton would be credited with the win after throwing a hitless ninth-inning of relief en route to his first win as a Dolphin. Entering in the eighth, Gregory Shannahan threw one inning, striking out one and had two earned runs.

Offensively, Austin Hays (1-for-3) provided an RBI-single in the first, driving in Amendolare from third, after Marabell would drive in his first-of-two RBI on a fielder's choice groundout that scored Gould, to round out the scoring for the afternoon.

The Dolphins look to gather the series win in the rubber-match slated for 1 p.m. first pitch where Justin Russell (1-2) faces Parker Curry (1-2). Live audio available on your FM dial at 92.5, where Scott Manze will have the call broadcasted on 1010XL.

A LOOK AHEAD

On Wednesday March 18, the Dolphins host cross-town rival North Florida for the Mayor's Cup at 6:30, where Mayor Alvin Brown will throw out the first pitch.

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