April 13, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team will play host to the Southeast Missouri Redhawks in a three-game series this weekend at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday at 1:00 p.m., and a single game Sunday, also at 1:00 p.m.

Samford enters the series with a record of 16-17 overall and 3-6 in Ohio Valley Conference play after winning two of three games at Austin Peay last weekend. SEMO is currently 21-12 overall and 7-2 in the OVC after falling to Southern Illinois, 7-2, on Tuesday.

Samford is led at the plate by Michael Marseco, batting .366. His 48 hits also lead the team. Parker Gargis leads the Bulldogs in home runs with 10 and RBI with 27. On the mound, Chandler Tidwell has the lowest ERA of the team's starting pitchers at 2.75. Josh Ehmke leads the team in wins with a 5-3 record.

The Redhawks are led at the plate by Asif Shah, batting .354 with five home runs and 37 RBI. Omar Padilla is batting .343 for the season. Dustin Renfrow has been the leader of the pitching staff, with an ERA of 1.72 and a record of 2-0. Shah is also 4-0 with a 2.59 ERA.

Last season, Samford took two of three games at Southeast Missouri. Samford took the first game, 6-5, and the third game, 8-6 in 15 innings. SEMO won the middle game of the series by a score of 7-4. The teams also met in the first round of the OVC Tournament, with Samford winning, 11-5.

Since Samford joined the OVC for the 2004 season, the teams have met 10 times, with each team winning five games. Under head coach Casey Dunn, Samford is 5-2 against the Redhawks.

Both of Saturday's games can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.al.com/wvsu. Fans can follow all three games on the internet via GameTracker at www.samfordsports.com.