Nov. 14, 2005

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball program has added three more signees to this year's signing class, head coach Casey Dunn and recruiting coordinator Tony David announced on Monday. The three signees bring the total for this year's class to six.

Marcus Rodriguez (6-2, 200, 3B, Barron Collier High School, Naples, Fla.) comes from one of the best high school programs in the talent-rich state of Florida. Rodriguez was ranked the No. 210 Best Player in the country earlier this year by Baseball America and his team was the No. 1 5A team in Florida and No. 17 in the country overall by Baseball America his junior season.

Rodriguez helped lead his team to the high rankings with a .330 batting average while leading the team with 28 runs batted in. He received All-County and All-Area team honors after the season. He played for the prestigious Florida Bombers summer program and was a part of the WWBA Under-18 National Champions. Also excelling academically, Rodriguez was the winner of Academic Excellence Award each year from Barron Collier and is a member of the National Honor Society.

"Marcus is a well-known and top prospect from Florida," Dunn said. "He is a guy that has played at an extremely high level in one of the most challenging baseball areas in the country. He will be an outstanding addition to Samford on the field and in the classroom."

Tripp Swann (6-3, 190, LHP, Montgomery Academy, Montgomery, Ala.) is considered one of the top three left-handed pitchers in the state. Swann is an outstanding athlete that has also spent the last few years as the starting quarterback at Montgomery Academy leading his team to another playoff win recently.

Swann has completed back-to-back All-State pitching performances following his sophomore and junior seasons while leading his team deep into the high school playoffs. As a sophomore, he was 9-1 with 109 strikeouts in 72 innings. His 3-0 playoff record was highlighted by a 19 strikeout performance in a dramatic 2-1 victory in the quarterfinals.

In his junior season, he posted a 9-2 record while striking out 140 in 80 innings and posting a 1.82 ERA. In addition, he led the team in hitting and collected five home runs.

Heading into his senior season, Swann is 12th overall on the career strike-out list for the state of Alabama. He was voted First-Team All-State by the Alabama Sports Writers and The Birmingham News and selected to the ABCA Super 100 after both his sophomore and junior years. He helped lead his team to the finals twice and semifinals once in his three high school seasons so far.

Swann chose Samford over Alabama, Arkansas, and Birmingham Southern.

"We are very excited to have Tripp joining our program," Dunn said. "He had his choice of a lot of programs, and we are happy he chose Samford. We felt he was one of the top three left-handed pitchers in the state and a definite priority sign. He is another guy that had to choose from a number of schools, and will make a great addition on and off the field."

Daniel Payne (6-4, 210, RHP, Manatee Community College, Valrico, Fla.) is an outstanding right-handed pitcher from one of the top junior college programs in the country. Payne is one of the top returning pitchers on a staff that helped lead Manatee to a No. 1 ranking in Florida and a No. 3 ranking in the country for most of the year. He was recently named as a pre-season All-Star for Florida Junior Colleges.

As a freshman last season, Payne pitched, and played first base and some outfield. On the mound he finished the year with a perfect 3-0 record with an impressive 1.25 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 36 innings pitched. He finished the year third in the state in ERA. He completed his high school career at Bloomingdale High School by being named to the Florida 6A All-State team after his junior and senior seasons.

Payne finished his senior season with a 7-1 record and a 2.15 ERA. He was selected to the All-District, All-Conference and All-State teams. As a junior he helped lead his team to a No. 2 ranking in 6A with a 28-2 record, while also producing off the mound by hitting .404 with three home runs and leading the county in RBI.

"Daniel is coming out of one of the top junior college programs and areas in the country and will be battle tested at an extremely high level," Dunn said. "He is a guy that has the experience to allow him to be able to step in right away for us next season. He is an outstanding athlete with a good frame that gives him an opportunity to get even better."