GAME NOTES

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford baseball team will travel to Macon, Ga., to take on the Mercer Bears in a key Southern Conference series, Thursday through Saturday. The teams are scheduled to play Thursday at 5 p.m. (CT), Friday at 5 p.m. (CT) and Saturday at 5:30 p.m. (CT).
 
Samford enters the series with a 13-8 SoCon mark, just a game and a half behind Mercer at 14-6 in league play. If Samford can win all three games this weekend, the Bulldogs would claim the SoCon regular-season title and the top seed in next week's SoCon Tournament.
 
The Bulldogs enter the weekend with a record of 28-22 overall. Samford won two-of-three games against Western Carolina over the weekend. The Bulldog won games one and three by scores of 13-4 and 16-14, but fell in game two, 7-4.
 
For Samford offensively, Heath Quinn is hitting .345 with 10 doubles, two triples, 11 home runs and 46 RBI. Alex Lee is hitting .344 with 16 doubles, eight home runs and 43 RBI. Austin Edens has a .339 average with 14 doubles, 13 home runs and 45 RBI. Hunter Swilling leads the team in both home runs with 15 and RBI with 53, to go along with his .330 average.
 
In Thursday's series opener, Samford will start right-handed pitcher Alex Ledford (7-4, 4.03 ERA) on the mound. Right-hander Parker Curry (6-6, 5.40 ERA) will get the starting nod in Friday's contest, and Samford has not named a starter for Saturday's series finale.
 
The Bears are currently 29-20 overall. Mercer dropped a 5-3 decision to Alabama Tuesday night after taking the weekend off from SoCon action.
 
Kyle Lewis leads Mercer offensively, batting .392 with 16 doubles, 14 home runs and 45 RBI. Matt Meede is hitting .305 with 10 doubles, a triple, a home run and 21 RBI. Jackson Ware has a .293 average with 10 doubles, four home runs and 21 RBI.
 
Mercer will start right-handed pitcher Eric Nyquist (6-2, 3.46 ERA) on the mound Thursday night. The starter in Friday night's game will be left-hander Grant Papelian (4-4, 4.52 ERA). Mercer has not named a starter for Saturday night's contest.
 
Samford and Mercer have met 60 previous times with Mercer holding a 34-26 advantage in the series. The majority of the meetings came when both teams were members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The teams last met in 2008, with Samford earning two wins, defeating Mercer, 10-6 in Macon, and by a score of 8-3 in Birmingham. Under head coach Casey Dunn, Samford is 3-3 against Mercer. This marks the teams' first meetings as co-members of the Southern Conference.
 
All three games can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. The Friday and Saturday games can also be viewed online via the SoCon Digital Network at www.socondigitalnetwork.com/samford.