March 23, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team will play host to Murray State in the Ohio Valley Conference-opening series for both teams this weekend at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday at 1:00 p.m., and a single game on Sunday, also at 1:00 p.m.

Samford enters the weekend with a record of 11-11 after dropping a 7-6 decision at Mississippi State Wednesday night. Murray State is currently 3-15 after falling, 7-4, at Southern Illinois, Wednesday night.

Samford is led at the plate by Michael Marseco, batting .378 with 34 hits. Parker Gargis is batting .345, and leads the OVC in home runs with eight, slugging percentage at .667 and total bases with 56.

Chandler Tidwell (2-1, 2.53 ERA), David Knapp (1-0, 2.77 ERA), Josh Ehmke (4-1, 4.80 ERA) and Trent Hill (2-3, 4.83 ERA) have led the pitching staff so far this season. Closer Joseph Edens leads the OVC with six saves so far this season.

Tyler Owen leads the Thoroughbreds with a .313 batting average. Seth Hudson leads the team in hits with 21, while James Akin is the team-leader in RBI with 13. Jake Donze (1-3, 6.27 ERA) and Brad Rowland (1-2, 7.77 ERA) have been the leading pitchers so far for Murray State.

Last season, Samford swept Murray State in a three-game series at Murray, Ky. Samford won the games by scores of 2-1, 5-0 and 7-4. In the three seasons Samford has been a member of the Ohio Valley Conference, the Bulldogs are 6-3 against Murray State.

All three games this weekend can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.al.com/wvsu. Fans can also follow the games on the internet via GameTracker at www.samfordsports.com.