May 28, 2011

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CHARLESTON, S.C. - The third-seeded Samford baseball team will take on the fourth-seeded Georgia Southern Eagles in the championship game of the Southern Conference Tournament Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. (CT) at Riley Park.

The winner of Sunday's game earns the Southern Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. If the Bulldogs win, this would mark the program's first NCAA Tournament bid.

The Bulldogs enter Sunday's game with a record of 37-22 after claiming three wins so far in the SoCon Tournament. Samford defeated Appalachian State, 5-3 in the first round, Furman, 7-1 in the second round and Appalachian State again, 2-1, in Saturday's semifinals. The 37 wins are the most single-season wins in program history.

Samford is led at the plate by Phillip Ervin, batting .376 with 15 doubles and 41 RBI. Saxon Butler is batting .357 with a school-record 26 doubles and a school-record 61 RBI. Michael Johnson is batting .347 with 10 doubles and 22 RBI. Brandon Miller is leading the team in home runs with 16 so far this season.

Samford is scheduled to start Lex Rutledge on the mound in Sunday's contest. Rutledge has a record of 5-5 and a 3.79 ERA.

The Eagles are currently 35-24 after going 3-1 so far in the SoCon Tournament. GSU defeated College of Charleston (4-2) and Western Carolina (12-1) in the first two rounds. On Saturday, the Eagles fell to College of Charleston, 9-1, before coming back to defeat the Cougars, 7-6, to advance to the title game.

GSU is led at the plate by Eric Phillips, batting .400 with 13 doubles and 39 RBI. Steve Cochrane is batting .333 with 19 doubles and 56 RBI. Victor Roache is batting .330 with a SoCon-record 30 home runs and 83 RBI.

The Eagles will start Chris Beck on the mound. Beck enters the game with a record of 8-4 and an ERA of 3.54.

Samford and Georgia Southern have met 52 previous times, with GSU holding a 41-11 advantage in the series. Earlier this season, Samford defeated Georgia Southern, two games to one. Samford won the first two games by scores of 5-4 and 9-2, before falling in game three by a score of 9-2. This marks the first time the two programs have met in the SoCon Tournament.

The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. Fans can also follow the game online via GameTracker at www.samfordsports.com.