March 8, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team will travel to Asheville, N.C., to take on the UNC Asheville Bulldogs in a three-game series this weekend.

Samford enters the week with a record of 7-7 after taking two games from Memphis earlier this week. UNC Asheville is currently 3-12 on the season after a 6-5 loss at Tulane on Wednesday.

Samford is led at the plate by Michael Marseco with a .345 batting average and 19 hits. Parker Gargis is second on the team with a .340 average, and he leads the team in home runs with four. Garrett Rice leads the team in RBI with seven.

Chandler Tidwell has led the pitching staff with a 2-1 record and a 1.44 ERA in a team-high 25.0 innings of work. Trent Hill (2-1, 2.84 ERA), Josh Ehmke (2-1, 4.82 ERA) and David Knapp (1-0, 2.13 ERA) have also had impressive pitching performances.

UNCA is led at the plate by Edmund Locklear, batting .314 with a team-high 14 RBI. UNCA's usual pitching rotation has been Alan DeRatt (1-1, 6.93 ERA), Graham Baughn (1-2, 5.96 ERA) and Josh Lett (0-2, 6.98 ERA). Samford and UNC Asheville last met during the 2005 season. UNC Asheville took both games, winning by scores of 6-5 and 7-5 at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

The teams will play games on Friday at 1:00 p.m., Saturday at 12:00 p.m. and Sunday again at 12:00 p.m.