March 22, 2002
Samford continues its Birmingham stand this weekend when it hosts Florida Atlantic in an Atlantic Sun Conference Series at Joe Lee Griffin Field. Friday's game will start at 6 p.m. with Saturday's doubleheader set to start at 1 p.m. The Bulldogs are 5-4 in the A-Sun after three conference series, which included taking two-of-three games from Stetson. Samford defeated cross-town rival Birmingham-Southern, 3-2 Tuesday. Sophomore Eric Hollis' pinch-hit single in the bottom of the seventh scored Robert Evans for the winning run. Robert Evans, Sae Evans and Eli Iorg each had three hits and the Bulldogs gave head coach Tim Parenton his first win over BSC in seven tries.
The Owls enter the Atlantic Sun conference series riding a 12-game winning streak after defeating Rider, 17-3 and No. 21 Rutgers, 6-5 earlier in the week. L.J. Biernbaum drove in the game-winning run with a single past the first baseman scoring Gabe Somarriba in the 6-5 win over Rutgers. Against Rider, the Owls hit four home runs, one of those a Biernbaum grand-slam, to defeat the Broncos. Matt Pali went 5-for-6 with two home runs against Rider. Biernbaum leads the team hitting .434 with five home runs and 35 RBI. Mike Cox has 11 home runs and 30 RBI for the Owls and is hitting .337.
Junior right-hander Frank Allen Yeilding (4-1, 3.15 ERA) will start on the mound Friday and sophomore left-hander Derek Tharpe (3-3, 5.13) will start the first game of Saturday's doubleheader for the Bulldogs. FAU will counter with right-hander Chris Pillsbury (4-0, 3.58 ERA) on Friday and right-hander Danny Core (2-2, 4.06 ERA) in the first game on Saturday. Starters for both teams in game two have not yet been decided.
Head coach Tim Parenton is 1-8 all-time against Florida Atlantic with Samford's only win coming last season when the Bulldogs won 6-3 in Boca Raton in the first game of the series.
Samford will hit the road next week during spring break. The Bulldogs will end its Birmingham stand, Tuesday night at UAB at 7 p.m. Samford will then travel to Normal, Ala. to face Alabama A&M at 2 p.m. The Bulldogs then go to Orlando, Fla. for an Atlantic Sun conference series against UCF. Friday's game is scheduled for 6 p.m. (ET) with Saturday's doubleheader set to start at 1 p.m. (ET).
