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JACKSONVILLE, Ala. -- The Samford University baseball team will take a step out of Southern Conference play Tuesday at 6 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs face off against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks for a second time in eight days. This week's matchup, the second straight non-conference game between the teams, will be held at JSU's Rudy Abbott Field.
 
Samford (13-11) heads into the contest looking to build upon a 5-3 road victory at Furman on Saturday. The Bulldogs opened SoCon play with a pair of tough losses to the Paladins, 4-2 and 8-5, on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
 

On Saturday, Samford used a top-notch pitching performance from senior Parker Curry and a pair of key blasts from sophomore Austin Edens and junior Heath Quinn to register a critical 5-3 road victory against Furman in the series finale held at Latham Stadium.
 
With the win, Samford registered its first conference victory of the season and improved to 4-6 when playing away from home this year. Furman had its four-game home winning streak snapped. All 10 of the Paladins' victories have been achieved at Latham Stadium this season and Furman's 5-3 loss to Samford proved to be its first home defeat since March 6.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Jacksonville State (16-6) has only been defeated once since March 11, and that loss occurred at Samford on March 22, 10-7. The Gamecocks have been victorious in 10 of their last 11 games and 13 of their last 15 outings.
 
Jacksonville State boasts a perfect 9-0 record in Ohio Valley Conference play this season and has swept four straight three-game series. Since going 1-2 at Kennesaw State in late February, the Gamecocks have registered consecutive series sweeps against Western Kentucky, SIU Edwardsville, Austin Peay and Eastern Illinois.
 
Over the weekend, Jacksonville State traveled to Charleston, Illinois, and earned victories of 6-4, 10-3 and 4-3 on the road against Eastern Illinois.
 
Offensively, the Gamecocks' Taylor Hawthorne is ranked fifth in the nation in triples this season with four. As a team, Jacksonville State is ranked 12th in the nation with 56 doubles and 20th in the country with 10 triples.
 
Hayden White leads the Gamecocks with a stellar .380 batting average, while Clayton Daniel follows closely at .379.
 
BULLDOGS' RECORD AGAINST JACKSONVILLE STATE - - THE DUNN ERA
Since Head Coach Casey Dunn took the reins to the Bulldogs' baseball program in 2004, Samford has compiled a 12-19 overall record against Jacksonville State, including a 10-7 victory over the Gamecocks at home on March 22.
 
Last season, the teams played their annual home-and-home non-conference series and split the two games. The Bulldogs tallied a thrilling 14-13 victory on the road on May 5, but Jacksonville State opened the season's rivalry with a 9-6 win in Birmingham on March 25.
 
SAMFORD'S MOST RECENT GAME AGAINST JACKSONVILLE STATE
On March 22, every single player in Samford's starting lineup registered a least one base hit as the Bulldogs powered their way to a 10-7 home victory against Jacksonville State in a non-conference showdown held at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 

In Samford's three-run victory, senior left fielder Jared Watson paced the Bulldogs' offensive attack with a near-perfect 4-for-5 outing at the plate. Watson, Samford's lightning-fast native of Jacksonville, Florida, also notched a pair of runs in the game, including a jaw-dropping sprint in the third inning when he scored all the way from first base on a single to right field.
 
On the play, Samford's Richard Greene earned his 14th RBI of the season as the Bulldogs tied the game at 5-5.
 
The biggest hit of the game occurred in the bottom of the fourth inning when Quinn blasted a three-run homer to deep left-center field. After T.J. Dixon and Hunter Swilling opened the inning with back-to-back singles, Quinn put the game out of reach with his 11th home run of the young 2016 campaign at the time. Quinn finished the game 2-for-4 at the dish with three RBI and a run scored.
 
SAMFORD AGAINST IN-STATE OPPONENTS
The Bulldogs boast a perfect 4-0 record against in-state opponents this season and currently hold an eight-game winning streak versus teams from the state of Alabama, dating all the way back to April 7, 2015. After a home loss to Alabama last season, Samford closed out the campaign with consecutive victories against in-opponents Troy, 13-2, Alabama State, 6-2, UAB, 4-2, and Jacksonville State, 14-13.
 
Already this year, the Bulldogs have defeated UAB, 13-2, Troy, 20-6, Alabama State, 18-7, and Jacksonville State, 10-7. In total, Samford has outscored its in-state foes by a count of 61-22 this season and has tallied at least 10 runs in every matchup.
 
BULLDOGS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Category, Rank (Value)
Home Runs, #6 (31)
Home Runs Per Game, #11 (1.29)
Slugging Percentage, #15 (.485)
Hits, #25 (258)
Runs, #26 (180)
Hit by Pitch, #28 (33)
Scoring, #31 (7.5 rpg)
On Base Percentage, #34 (.397)
Doubles, #38 (49)
 
SCORING SIX IS THE KEY
Samford owns a perfect 11-0 record this season when scoring six or more runs. Conversely, the Bulldogs are 0-8 this year when scoring three runs or fewer. Samford also boast an unblemished 8-0 record in 2016 when scoring a run in the first inning. Additionally, Samford holds a 9-6 record this season when scoring before its opponent.
 
SECOND-INNING STRETCH
So far this season, Samford is outscoring its opponents by a total of 21-9 in the second inning. Additionally, the Bulldogs are also outscoring the opponent, 20-12, in the third inning for a combined total of 41-21 in the second and third frames.
 

BULLDOGS' HEATH QUINN IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Category, Rank (Value)
Home Runs, #1 (13)
Home Runs Per Game, #1 (.54)
Runs Batted In, #2 (39)
Runs Batted In Per Game, #3 (1.63)
Total Bases, #3 (80)
Slugging Percentage, #9 (.825)
Runs, #37 (27)
 
LET'S HAVE SOME FUN - - QUINN'S PROJECTED NUMBERS THIS SEASON
Currently, Samford's Quinn owns 13 home runs, 27 runs scored, 39 RBI and 80 total bases this year. Last season, the Bulldogs' right fielder finished the 2015 campaign with 238 official at-bats.
 
If Quinn earns 238 at-bats this year, Samford's preseason All-American is on pace to achieve 32 home runs, 66 runs scored, 96 RBI and 196 total bases. To put that in perspective, last season's American League MVP Josh Donaldson accumulated 41 home runs and 123 RBI in a total of 620 at-bats.
 
HUNTER SWILLING IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Category, Rank (Value)
Doubles, #14 (11)
Doubles Per Game, #29 (0.46)
Runs, #52 (26)
Runs Batted In, #60 (26)
Hit By Pitch, #70 (6)
Runs Per Game, #71 (1.08)
 

T.J. DIXON IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Category Rank (Value)
Triples, #31 (3)
Stolen Bases, #62 (10)
Runs, #69 (25)
Triples Per Game, #69 (0.13)
Stolen Bases Per Game, #91 (0.42)
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Tuesday's midweek contest at Jacksonville State, the Samford University baseball team will next be in action Friday at 6 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs begin a highly-anticipated, three-game home SoCon series against the Mercer Bears.
 
Last season, Mercer defeated Samford in the championship game of the SoCon Tournament and was picked to finish second behind the Bulldogs in the coaches' 2016 preseason predictions.
 
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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