July 1, 2010
2010 Season Review (31-25 Overall, 17-12 SoCon)
The Samford baseball team posted its fourth 30-win season in the last five years in 2010, finishing with a record of 31-25 overall and 17-12 in its second season in the always tough Southern Conference.
The team's league record gave the Bulldogs the biggest turnaround of any SoCon team. The Bulldogs were the only team in the conference to knock off the top two teams in the league, earning series wins over The Citadel and College of Charleston. The team also posted a 10-game win streak in league play. The conference success along with a number of key out of conference wins led the Bulldogs to the school's best RPI finish by finishing 72nd among Division I teams in the nation.
The Bulldogs had one of the best seasons in the history of the program offensively. The team set school records for home runs (70), hits (617), runs scored (414), runs batted in (383) and slugging percentage (.486), while tying the Samford mark for doubles with 115.
Samford extended its winning streak over eventual Super Regional team Alabama to three games (five of the last eight) with a sweep of the season series. The Bulldogs also captured an early season series win over Minnesota, who would make it to the NCAA regional finals. Samford finished with a 6-4 record against teams who would participate in the finals of NCAA Regional Tournaments, playing a challenging schedule that featured 19 games against teams in the NCAA field.
Samford earned its first trip to the Southern Conference Tournament following a strong regular season. The Bulldogs posted their first conference tournament win with a 13-10 win over Furman, to go along with two hard-fought losses to eventual at-large regional team Elon.
Following the season, freshmen star Lex Rutledge was honored as the team's second ever Freshmen All-American. Rutledge tied a school record with 11 saves to go along with a 5-1 record, a 1.71 ERA and a team-high 65 strikeouts. Rutledge has been invited to the trials for the 2010 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.
Outfielder David Schulze was named first team All-Southern Conference at the conclusion of the season. Schulze batted .377 with 12 home runs and 56 RBI. Rutledge and outfielder Wayne Miller were named to the league's second team. Miller batted .344 with eight home runs and 42 RBI.
In addition to the on-field accolades, Miller also earned recognition for his work in the classroom. He was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team in May.
