April 3, 2006

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team will play host to the Auburn Tigers in the first-annual Samford vs. Auburn Baseball Classic presented by First American Bank Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.

Samford enters the game with a record of 14-15 overall and 5-1 in the OVC after winning two-of-three games at Jacksonville State over the weekend. Auburn is currently 14-17 overall and 3-6 in the SEC after winning two-of-three games from Kentucky over the weekend.

Samford and Auburn met earlier this season with Auburn claiming a 6-4 win on March 21 in Auburn. Last season, the Bulldogs and Tigers met three times, with Samford coming away with one win in the series. The Bulldogs claimed a 9-6 win in Auburn, while the Tigers won, 12-6 in Birmingham and 8-1 in Auburn.

Parker Gargis currently leads Samford and the Ohio Valley Conference in batting with a .396 average. Gargis also leads Samford in RBI (23) and hits (36). John Morgan currently leads the team in runs scored (23), while Luke Peavy leads the team in doubles (8), and Bear Burnett is the team-leader in home runs (4).

Samford is scheduled to pitch Chandler Tidwell in Tuesday night's game. Tidwell is currently 0-4 on the season with an 8.78 ERA. Auburn will pitch Bryan Woodall with a record of 0-4 and an ERA of 6.23.

Tuesday night's game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.al.com/wvsu or www.samfordsports.com. Fans can also follow the game via Gametracker at www.samfordsports.com.