BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Since 2011, the Samford University baseball team has had 16 players taken in the Major League Baseball Draft, including a school-record seven in 2012, as well as the program's highest ever draft pick in Philip Ervin, who was selected 27^th overall in the first round by the Cincinnati Reds in 2013.
 
"We're obviously extremely excited about what these guys have been able to accomplish," said Samford head coach Casey Dunn. "We had multiple guys lead their team to the playoffs. We have a couple guys playing in the Arizona Fall League and one going to play professionally in Venezuela. Also, Ty (Tyler Filliben) won the Community Service Award, so all of those guys are doing positive things and that is one of the things that we sell in the recruiting process.
 
"We like to publicize the fact that our guys are not only great student-athletes here at Samford, but are also moving on and having great success at the next level."

 

Ervin finished the 2015 campaign in AA Pensacola after earning High-A All-Star recognition for his play throughout the first half of the season. After being promoted to AA, he helped lead the Blue Wahoos to the playoffs. Ervin will be participating in the Arizona Fall League in preparation for spring training.
 
In 2015, Ervin blasted 14 home runs and registered a career-high 71 RBI. He also earned 66 bases on balls and a personal-best 34 stolen bases. Ervin posted a .346 on-base percentage, as well as a .379 slugging percentage.

 

Former Samford standout Grant Sides, who was drafted in the 12^th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft by the Cleveland Indians, will also be participating in the Arizona Fall League this year.
 
Last season, Sides helped his team to the playoffs and pitched at both the High-A and AA levels. He concluded year with the Lynchburg Hillcats where he posted a 3.26 earned run average and garnered eight saves out of a total of nine save opportunities. Sides also finished with 48 strikeouts and limited the opposition to a .220 batting average.
 
Former Samford pitcher Josh Martin shined for the AA Akron RubberDucks in 2015 where he compiled a sizzling 8-1 record and a brilliant 2.27 ERA. Martin also added a pair of saves and a career-high 80 strikeouts, while limiting opposing batters to a 1.92 batting average.
 

Martin is already scheduled to compete in the Venezuela Winter League in the offseason.
 
Samford's former standout battery of Brad Moss (catcher) and CK Irby (pitcher) split time at two Minor League levels in 2015. Moss proved to be an important asset in the San Francisco Giants farm system, while Irby shined throughout the season with the Minnesota Twins and concluded the year throwing extremely well.

 

Moss finished the year with a .309 on-base percentage and seven RBI on 13 base hits for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes.
 
Irby, who was selected in the 10^th round of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft, concluded the season with the Elizabethton Twins where he accumulated an undefeated 3-0 record and 3.28 ERA. Irby finished with 64 strikeouts and tallied an unblemished three saves in only three save opportunities. He also limited opponents to a .222 batting average.
 
Tripp Martin, who starred at Samford in 2014, spent time at two Minor League levels for the Texas Rangers last season and finished the year in High-A ball. He turned in huge home run numbers throughout the year and led his team to the playoffs.
 

Competing for the High Desert Mavericks, Martin blasted 23 home runs and added 62 RBI. He also notched an impressive .476 slugging percentage and drew 30 walks.
 
Tyler Filliben helped lead his team to a playoff berth in 2015 and was honored at a Pittsburgh Pirates game earlier this month for Roberto Clemente Night, which recognizes the community service winner from each affiliate within their system.

Filliben competed primarily with the West Virginia Power last season and turned in a solid .351 on-base percentage, while adding a .329 slugging percentage.
 
"These former players having success on the next level is great for our current players," Dunn said. "They are all actively involved with the program and come back for practices and for games before spring training and they also utilize our facilities and weight room to train during the offseason. They are visible to our guys and I think the best part about is as well is that they go about it the right way.
 
"Our former players all work extremely hard and are very routine-driven and that allows our current players to see what it takes to be successful at the next level."
 

Upcoming in the spring, the 2016 Samford squad returns eight starters from last season's team that compiled a 32-26 overall record and finished second in the Southern Conference. The Bulldogs advanced all the way to the championship game of the SoCon Tournament and finished the year with a 17-11 mark against conference opponents.
 
The Bulldogs return eight of their nine position players (including the designated hitter), as well as the top five hitters in the starting lineup. Samford's lone loss from last season's batting order proved to be senior leftfielder and six-hole hitter Brandon Powell, who started in 12 games a year ago.
 
Two of the Bulldogs' three weekend starters are returning this season in senior Parker Curry and junior Jared Brasher, but Dunn's squad will be without the efforts of All-SoCon performers Alex Ledford and Andres Gracia. Ledford paced Samford with seven wins last season, while Gracia added a team-high 10 saves.
 
Throughout the fall, Samford will practice on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays beginning at 3 p.m. (CT) and each of these days will include a scrimmage. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the team will practice before class in the morning and focus on fundamentals.
 
The Bulldogs' fall practice schedule will culminate with a special Halloween scrimmage to be held Friday, Oct. 30, where the players will compete in their favorite costumes.