Box Score - - Game One
Box Score - - Game Two
Updated Stats

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University baseball team extended its season-opening winning streak to three-consecutive games Saturday as the Bulldogs earned a doubleheader sweep of the Butler Bulldogs in nonconference play held at Joe Lee Griffin Field. Samford overpowered Butler in game one, 16-1, before rallying late for a 4-3 decision in the nightcap.
 
Samford (3-0) has outscored Butler (0-3), 34-5, in the series and is batting .414 as a team. The Bulldogs' young, talented pitching staff has limited Butler to a .188 batting average in three games. Samford's pitchers boast a sterling 1.00 earned run average, while the visiting Bulldogs are allowing 11.62 runs per outing.
 
Samford's Heath Quinn has definitely been solidifying his Preseason All-America status here in the early-going by hitting .714 (10-of-14) with nine RBI, three home runs, two doubles and a triple. The Bulldogs' two-time All-SoCon performer has also stolen a pair of bases and hit for the cycle against Butler in Saturday's first game.
 
Quinn finished a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate in Samford's 16-1 victory over Butler in game one. He drove in five runs, scored three runs and opened the season hitting safely in 10 of his first 11 at-bats.
 
The Bulldogs' Richard Greene and T.J. Dixon also turned in brilliant games in Saturday's opener. Greene turned in an unblemished 4-for-4 performance at the plate, while driving in a pair of runs and scoring another. Dixon, who has already tallied four stolen bases this season, finished 3-for-5 at the plate and scored a trio of runs from his leadoff position. He also drove in a run.
 
Samford's Hunter Swilling, Alex Lee and Rob Perteet all registered multi-hit performances against Butler in game one. The Bulldogs' final line included 16 runs on 22 hits with Quinn's second home run of the young season leaving the yard.
 
Sophomore Tristan Widra hurled five innings of nearly perfect pitching Saturday as he only allowed two hits and a single base on balls. He struck out four batters and averaged just 3.4 hitters faced per inning. Fellow sophomore Josh Rich came on in the sixth inning and closed out the final four frames of the game to tally his first save of the season. Rich only allowed one run on four hits and struck out three.
 
GAME TWO
In Saturday's second game of the doubleheader, Butler jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but the Bulldogs quickly answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame.
 
Samford's two runs were scored in the first inning when Quinn blasted his third home run of the season well over the wall in right-center field. Swilling, who finished 3-for-4 at the plate, doubled in the first inning and scored on Quinn's dinger.
 
Butler scored another run off Samford in the second frame, but true freshman pitcher Stephen Jones settled down at that point in his first career start and ended up throwing four good innings of baseball. Only one of Jones' runs allowed were earned, as he registered three strikeouts in four frames, while limiting Butler to just four hits.
 
In the fifth inning, Samford fell behind 3-2 in the top of the stanza, but answered with runs in both the sixth and seventh frames to give the Bulldogs a 4-3 advantage.
 
Samford's Austin Edens tied the game at 3-3 with a deep home run to left-center field in the sixth inning, while Swilling drove in the decisive score in the seventh with a single to left. The Bulldogs' Frankie Navarrete scored the game-winning run after ripping a single down the right-field line with one out in the frame.
 
Samford closers Tanner Cunningham, Wyatt Burns and Parker Curry closed the door on Butler in the final five innings by only allowing one earned run on three hits. Burns, who pitched the seventh inning for the Bulldogs, ended up as the winning pitcher, while only allowing a single baserunner.
 
Curry, Samford's senior leader from Pelham, notched his first save of the young 2016 campaign by hurling a pair of shutout innings in the eighth and ninth.
 
Offensively, the Bulldogs' Lee, Perteet and Danny Rodriguez all added base hits against Butler in game two.
 
After three games this season, Samford boasts seven players hitting at least .500, while 11 Bulldogs are hitting no lower than .300.
 
The Samford University baseball team will next be in action Sunday at 10 a.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs host Butler in the final contest of their season-opening four-game set to be held at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The matchup was originally slated to begin at 1 p.m., but was moved up to 10 a.m., to hopefully miss some potentially bad weather expected in the area.
 
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Box Score - - Game One
Box Score - - Game Two
Updated Stats