BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - James Reeves held Samford in check for six innings, Zach Lavery stranded the tying runs in the seventh and Skylar Hunter pitched two innings of one-hit ball to close it out, leading The Citadel to a 6-4 win at Samford in the opening game of a Southern Conference series.

The Citadel (19-25, 4-12 SoCon) built a 6-2 lead in the sixth and held on to give Reeves his first victory since no-hitting Mercer on April 2. The redshirt junior southpaw allowed only three hits and two runs while striking out seven to improve to 6-3 on the season.

Reeves and Samford starter Alex Ledford entered the game tied for the all-time lead among active SoCon pitchers with 17, but the Samford ace was touched up for 10 hits and all six runs in six innings in dropping to 6-4.

Lavery came in with the bases loaded in the seventh and The Citadel ahead 6-2 and allowed a two-run single to Jared Watson before stranding two runners on base. Hunter entered in the eighth and worked a 1-2-3 frame before running into a bit of difficulty in the ninth.

The Bulldog closer issued a leadoff walk which was erased when Heath Quinn grounded into a 5-4-3 double play. Austin Edens kept it alive with a double, but Hunter finished off his 11th save of the season and SoCon-record 39th of his career when he induced Alex Lee to pop out to second.

Samford (24-20, 10-6) took a 1-0 lead in the first, but The Citadel quickly answered in the second with a two-out rally. Ryan Kilgallen walked, Jacob Watcher singled and Bret Hines brought them both home with a double, one of four two-base hits on the night for the Bulldogs.

Both teams scored a run in the third with Samford tallying on a solo homer by Hunter Swilling. Watcher doubled to lead off the fourth and scored on a grounder by Austin Mapes to make it 4-2, and The Citadel scored twice in the sixth on an RBI single by Connor Walsh and a run-producing double by Stephen Windham.

The series resumes on Saturday at 3 p.m. (Eastern) with JP Sears on the mound for The Citadel and Parker Curry going for Samford. The game can be seen on the SoCon Digital Network.