Samford endured a marathon day at the Southern Conference baseball tournament on Saturday in Greenville, S.C., but emerged as champions.

The Bulldogs won three games in a single day to claim the SoCon tournament title and advance to their second NCAA Regional in three years. Samford, which was also the conference regular-season champion, will learn its NCAA tournament destination on Monday.

Severe weather expected in the Greenville area altered the schedule for the tournament. The revamped schedule necessitated the relatively rare occurrence where Samford played three games in one day.

Samford (35-23) lost 7-6 to Wofford on Friday to drop into the elimination round, but stayed alive by beating UNC-Greensboro 9-5 on Saturday morning. The Bulldogs then had to beat Wofford twice to win the tournament title, and did just that with 7-2 and 5-2 victories.

In Saturday’s early game vs. UNCG, Samford used a 5-run sixth inning to break open a close game. John Anderson had a two-run double in the inning, while Josh Rodriguez slammed a two-run homer.

Kaden Dreier added three hits and two RBIs for the Bulldogs. Starting pitcher Will Lynch (5-4) picked up the win with seven strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts.

In Saturday’s first game vs. Wofford, Rodriguez’s two-run homer sparked a three-run fourth inning. Dreier and Stephen Klein also drove in two runs each, while Lucas Steele had three hits and an RBI as the Bulldogs built a 7-0 lead before the Terriers scored twice in the late innings.

Jacob Newman (3-2) pitched six shutout innings for the win, allowing three hits and one walk. Wofford loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth, but Samford closer Ben Petschke struck out three straight to end the game and record his 14th save.

In the winner-take-all game, Samford scored three runs in the bottom of the first to take control early. Steele drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, while two more scored on a dropped fly ball with two outs.

Jayden Davis’ RBI single in the fifth made it 4-0, but Wofford (40-19) got single runs in the seventh and eighth innings to cut the Bulldogs’ lead in half. Rodriguez added a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning to push Samford’s lead back to three.

Jacob Cravey put two runners on with one out in the ninth, but struck out Cameron Gill on three pitches and got David Wiley to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the game and give the Bulldogs the title.

Three Samford pitchers — Heath Clevenger, Petschke and Cravey — combined to allo just four hits and four walks in the title game. Clevenger (1-1) went the first six to pick up the way, while Cravey’s save was his first.

Samford previously played in NCAA Regionals in 2012, 2018 and 2021, but has never advanced to a Super Regional. The Bulldogs reached the Tallahassee Regional championship game in 2012.

The 2023 NCAA Baseball Selection Show airs at 11 a.m. Monday on ESPN2.