July 9, 2005

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball coaching staff has announced two more signees for the current recruiting class. With the addition of these signees, Samford has now signed 18 student-athletes for the 2005 signing class.

Included in these signees is another Division I transfer, which gives the Bulldog baseball program four signees with previous Division I experience with programs that have reached the NCAA tournament. More signees will be announced next week.

Doug Denson (RHP, 6-1, 185, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Ala.) will be transferring to Samford after spending the last two seasons in the SEC with Alabama. Denson is an outstanding right-handed pitcher with very good velocity that saw a little mound time on a Crimson Tide team that reached the NCAA tournament this season.

After red-shirting his first season in Tuscaloosa, Denson saw some time on the mound during the past season while traveling throughout the SEC schedule. Denson played the previous summer in Nicaragua and Venezuela, pitching 24 innings with 30 strikeouts and a 3.33 earned run average.

Denson prepped at Vestavia Hills High School and helped lead his team to a 24-8 and final ranking of 10th in the 6A poll. During his junior season, Denson finished with a 3-0 record, one save and an outstanding 1.47 ERA. He received 6A Honorable Mention All-State honors from the Birmingham News.

As a sophomore with two years in an SEC program, Denson is expected to see mound time for the Bulldogs.

"Doug had his pick of baseball programs to go this season," Samford Head Coach Casey Dunn said. "He is a tremendous talent that will have an opportunity to make a significant impact with our team right away. He will be in the battle for weekend time for sure."

Denson chose Samford over Birmingham-Southern and Memphis. Denson's older brother, Joe, was a shortstop at Samford from 2001-04.

Kyle Kilgore (INF, 5-11, 180, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Jasper, Ala.) will be transferring to the Samford baseball program for next season. Kilgore is a speedy athlete that has seen time both in the infield and outfield during his baseball career. His greatest asset is his blinding speed, as he is expected to be the fastest member of the Samford bulldogs.

Before a red-shirt injury year at Alabama-Huntsville, Kilgore spent two seasons in junior college at Beville State-Fayette. He hit just over .300 his sophomore season with 12 doubles and using his speed to lead the team with 21 stolen bases and four triples. His freshmen season he hit just under .300, with 10 stolen bases as he helped lead his team to the World Series.

Kilgore prepped at Walker high school, wrapping up an outstanding high school career by hitting .390 his senior season with one home run, 14 doubles and stealing 28 bases in 29 attempts.

Kilgore's speed should be an asset in finding playing time with the bulldogs.

"Kyle is an experienced athlete," Dunn said. "He should be our fastest guy, which has helped us address a need for this team. He will battle in a couple of spots so we can get that speed in the lineup."