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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University baseball team will begin play in its highly-anticipated 2016 season Friday at 4 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs open a four-game weekend home series against the Butler Bulldogs in a key series-opening contest to be held at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
Samford enters the campaign with high expectations after being picked as the preseason favorite to win the Southern Conference last week. The Bulldogs placed first with 60 total votes, while defending champion Mercer followed closely with 59. Samford and the Bears both received four first-place votes.
 
Samford finished the 2015 campaign with a 32-26 overall mark and a 14-10 record in the SoCon. The Bulldogs' second-place league finish was their best since joining the SoCon in 2009, while their tournament title-game appearance was their fourth in five seasons.
 
PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE
Samford returns all nine position starters and two starting pitchers from last year and tallied a league-high seven players on the preseason all-conference teams.
 
The Bulldogs, who have played in four of the last five SoCon tournament title games, placed a league-high seven players on the two preseason squads, including a SoCon-best four on the first team. The Bulldogs paced the conference in preseason picks for the second straight year and were the coaches' preseason pick to win the league.
 
BULLDOGS' PRESEASON ALL-SOCON PLAYERS
Samford's Alex Lee (first base), Hunter Swilling (third base), Heath Quinn (outfield) and Austin Edens (designated hitter) earned spots on the preseason first team after all-conference 2015 campaigns. Swilling, Quinn and Edens have each earned preseason All-America honors heading into the season. Edens, the 2015 SoCon Freshman of the Year, was named a first-team freshman All-American last year.
 
The Bulldogs also placed three players on the preseason second team in catcher Richard Greene, second baseman Frankie Navarrete and outfielder T.J. Dixon.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Butler heads into the 2016 campaign Friday boasting 10 players who were not in a Bulldog uniform last year. These 10 newcomers will mix with a strong core of returners in attempt to build off a season in which the Bulldogs set the school record for consecutive wins while going 23-30 overall with a BIG EAST record of 8-10.
 
Butler will look for solid sophomore campaigns out of Tyler Houston and Garrett Christman. Houston hit .324 last season for the Bulldogs and led the team in runs scored with 52. He also hit three home runs last year and tallied the second most stolen bases on the team with 11.
 
Christman hit .320 during his first season as a Bulldog and added 10 doubles and 21 runs batted in. Another offensive weapon returning for Butler is senior Chris Marras. The catcher hit .304 last season for the Bulldogs and added three home runs.
 
On the mound, Butler will return left-handed pitcher Jeff Schank. Schank led the Bulldogs with five wins last season. He also led the team in strikeouts (72) and innings pitched (86.2). In 14 starts, Schank compiled an earned run average of 3.12 and stuck out nearly seven batters per game.
 
SAMFORD'S STARTING ROTATION
Friday - - RHP, Jared Brasher, Jr. (Pell City, Alabama)
Saturday (Game One) - - RHP, Tristan Widra, So. (Hoover, Alabama)
Saturday (Game Two) - - RHP, Stephen Jones, Fr. (Tallahassee, Florida)
Sunday - - RHP, Connor Radcliff, Fr. (Birmingham, Alabama)
 
BUTLER'S STARTING ROTATION
Friday - - LHP, Jeff Schank, Jr. (Naperville, Illinois)
Saturday (Game One) - - RHP, Danny Pobereyko, Jr. (Munster, Indiana)
Saturday (Game Two) - - LHP, Nick Morton, Sr. (Burbank, California)
Sunday - - LHP, Connor Mitchell, So. (Plainfield, Indiana)
 
RARIFIED AIR - - SAMFORD BOASTS TWO OF NATION'S TOP FIVE HOME RUN HITTERS
The Bulldogs' Edens and Swilling enter the 2016 campaign as two of the top five returning home run hitters in the nation from last season. Both of Samford's sluggers powered 16 homers in 2015 as the Bulldogs led the nation in dingers for a predominant portion of the season with a school-record 85.
 
Joining Samford's Edens and Swilling in the top-five list for returning home runs this year are Eastern Kentucky's Kyle Nowlin (19), Florida's JJ Schwarz (18) and Mercer's Kyle Lewis (17).

WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following this weekend's four-game home series against Butler, the Samford University baseball team will remain at home next week as the Bulldogs begin a similar four-game set against the BYU Cougars to be held at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The opening game of the series will be held Thursday at 2 p.m.
 
For quick score updates, breaking news and links to all of your favorite articles featuring the Bulldogs, please follow @SamfordBaseball and @Samford_Sports on Twitter.

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