Game One (April 19 - - 4 p.m.):  Video  |  Radio  |  Live Stats
Game Two (April 10 - - 7 p.m.):  Video  |  Radio  |  Live Stats

Samford Game Notes  |  Tickets

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University baseball team will begin play in a six-game non-conference homestand Tuesday at 4 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs welcome the Alabama A&M Bulldogs to Joe Lee Griffin Field for a midweek doubleheader. Tuesday's second game of the doubleheader is slated to begin approximately 30 minutes following the first contest of the evening.
 
TICKETS AVAILABLE ON FACEBOOK
Fans, the Samford Athletic Department and StateChamps has teamed up to give you a new simple way to purchase mobile tickets for the remaining 2016 Samford home baseball schedule through Facebook.
 
Just click on the Buy Tickets Tab on the Samford Baseball Facebook page and once you purchase your ticket, all you have to do is show us your ticket on your smartphone at the gate. You can still purchase tickets at www.samfordsports.com/tickets, but this new option gives you the fan another simple alternative to purchase tickets for Samford baseball events.
 
BULLDOGS RETURN HOME TO BIRMINGHAM
Samford (20-16) heads into Tuesday's matchup with hopes of improving upon its solid home record. The Bulldogs own a 14-7 record at Joe Lee Griffin Field this season and will play their next six games at home.
 
Following its doubleheader against Alabama A&M on Tuesday, Samford will play host to Kansas for a three-game series this weekend. Next week, the Bulldogs will be at home for another midweek contest as they welcome the Alabama Crimson Tide to Joe Lee Griffin Field on April 26 at 6 p.m.
 
This week, Samford looks to rebound from a tough 6-5, 11-inning loss at Western Carolina on Sunday. The Bulldogs battled back to tie the game at 5-5 in the top of the seventh inning, but the Catamounts were able to break through for the game-winning run in the bottom of the 11th frame.
 
Samford finished last week with a 2-2 overall record. After cruising past Alabama State, 13-3, on April 12, the Bulldogs came up short in a three-game Southern Conference series at Western Carolina. Samford rolled to a 13-7 victory in Saturday's matchup, but the Catamounts were able to take game one, 10-5, before falling 6-5 in the series finale.
 
In Tuesday's first game against Alabama A&M, the Bulldogs' starting pitcher will be junior right-hander Mikhail Cazenave (1-1). Cazenave has started in all of Samford's last four midweek games as the Bulldogs have compiled a 3-1 record, all of which have come against in-state opponents. Samford's starting pitcher for game two of the doubleheader is currently listed as TBA.
 
All nine position starters for Samford this season are batting at least .288 on the season. The Bulldogs' right fielder Heath Quinn leads the team with a solid .354 batting average. Quinn, the nation's leading home run hitter this season with 15, has reached base safely in 31-consecutive games dating back to Feb. 26. Additionally, Quinn has registered 50 RBI this year and has compiled 16 multiple-RBI games.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Alabama A&M (9-31) enters Tuesday's doubleheader with a bit of positive momentum after earning a decisive 17-4 home victory over Mississippi Valley State on Sunday. Despite the series-finale win, the Bulldogs lost the three-game set, but have been victorious in three of their last five outings, including a 3-1 triumph at Eastern Kentucky on April 13.
 
Offensively, Alabama A&M's top hitter this season is Carlton Peppers with a .300 batting average. In 21 games this season, Peppers has rattled off 24 hits, five doubles and 17 runs scored. The Bulldogs' leading home run hitter this season is Tanner Ivey with five round-trippers in 2016.
 
Alabama A&M owns a 3-14 record when playing on the road this year and is 5-10 in league play this season.
 
BULLDOGS' RECORD AGAINST ALABAMA A&M - - THE DUNN ERA
Since Head Coach Casey Dunn took the reins to the Bulldogs' baseball program in 2004, Samford has compiled a near-perfect 10-1 record against Alabama A&M. The Bulldogs' lone loss in the series under Dunn occurred April 2, 2014, as Alabama A&M pitched its way to a 5-3 win at home in Huntsville.
 
Since then, Samford has won the last two meetings between the teams, including an 8-4 home victory last season on April 1.
 
BATTLE OF THE BULLDOGS - - THE LAST MEETING
In the lone meeting between the teams last season, Samford built an early lead and held off a late Alabama A&M rally to earn an 8-4 win on April 1 at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
For Samford at the plate, T.J. Dixon went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Quinn went 2-for-5 with a triple and two RBI. Hunter Swilling, Austin Edens and Alex Lee drove in a run each for the Bulldogs.
 
Eric Wright (2-2) pitched 5.0 innings, giving up one run on four hits to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Wright struck out seven batters, while allowing just one walk. Wyatt Burns, Mark Donham and Andres Gracia also saw time on the mound for Samford.
 
Alabama A&M struck first with a run in the top of the first inning. Andrew Utterback singled up the middle to drive in Brandyn Crutcher for a 1-0 A&M lead.
 
Samford took the lead for good with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. With one out in the inning, Swilling walked. Quinn later tripled to right field to drive in Swilling to tie the score at 1-1. With two outs, Lee singled to drive in Quinn for a 2-1 Samford lead.
 
SAMFORD AGAINST IN-STATE OPPONENTS
The Bulldogs boast a near-perfect 6-1 record against in-state opponents this season and have been victorious in 10 of their last 11 outings versus teams from the state of Alabama. Last season, Samford closed out the campaign with consecutive victories against in-state 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 twice, 18-7 and 13-3, and Jacksonville State twice, 10-7 and 7-6, but suffered a 5-3 road defeat at Troy on April. 5. In total, Samford has outscored its in-state foes by a count of 84-36 this season and has tallied an average of 12.1 runs per matchup.
 
BULLDOGS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Category, Rank (Value)
Home Runs, #5 (47)
Home Runs Per Game, #6 (1.31)
Hits, #17 (394)
Slugging Percentage, #18 (.480)
Runs, #27 (263)
Scoring, #29 (7.3 rpg)
Batting Average, #31 (.305)
On Base Percentage, #35 (.392)
 
SAMFORD'S OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK - - AUSTIN EDENS
Samford's Edens hit safely in all three games at Western Carolina last week and extended his hitting streak to five-consecutive games. After taking a routine day off in the Bulldogs' 13-3 midweek victory against Alabama State on Tuesday, he hit four home runs and added seven RBI in a big road SoCon series at Western Carolina.
 
In the three-game series, Edens batted .462 (6-of-13) and turned in two-homer performances on both Friday and Saturday. With a slugging percentage of 1.385, Edens went 2-for-5 with three RBI and a pair of home runs on Friday and upped that outing Saturday by hitting two more home runs and finishing 3-for-5 at the dish.
 
In Sunday's finale, Edens went 1-for-3 at the plate and drew a pair of walks as Western Carolina proved to be hesitant to pitch to Samford's sophomore slugger.
 
The Bulldogs' Edens moved into the nation's top-10 rankings in home runs with 12. He ended the week with 18 total bases and powered four of the team's seven home runs on the week.
 
BULLDOGS' HEATH QUINN IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Category, Rank (Value)
Home Runs, #1 (15)
Home Runs Per Game, #1 (0.42)
Total Bases, #3 (107)
Runs Batted In, #6 (50)
Runs Batted In Per Game, #8 (1.39)
Slugging Percentage, #9 (.743)
 
LET'S HAVE SOME FUN - - QUINN'S PROJECTED NUMBERS THIS SEASON
Currently, Samford's Quinn owns 15 home runs, 38 runs scored, 50 RBI and 107 total bases this year. Last season, the Bulldogs' right fielder finished the 2015 campaign with 238 official at-bats. If Quinn earns an equal amount of 238 at-bats this year, Samford's preseason All-American is on pace to achieve 25 home runs, 63 runs scored, 83 RBI and 177 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, which is nearly three times as many as Quinn will receive in 2016.
 
NATION'S HOME RUN LEADERS
Rank, Player, HR
       1.      Heath Quinn, Samford, 15
                Kyle Lewis, Mercer, 15
                Kyle Nowlin, Eastern Kentucky, 15
       4.     Seth Beer, Clemson, 14
                Jake Burger, Missouri State, 14
       6.     Spencer Johnson, Missouri State, 13
                Darick Hall, Dallas Baptist, 13
                Tanner Hill, Texas State, 13
                Gary Russo, Miami (Ohio), 13
      10.   Austin Edens, Samford, 12
                Michael Cruz, Bethune-Cookman, 12
                Austin Hays, Jacksonville, 12
 
HUNTER SWILLING IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Category, Rank (Value)
Doubles, #5 (17)
Doubles Per Game, #10 (0.47)
Runs Batted In, #29 (42)
Runs Batted In Per Game, #35 (1.17)
Total Bases, #49 (87)
Runs, #62 (36)
Home Runs, #64 (8)
Runs Per Game, #82 (1.00)
Home Runs Per Game, #85 (0.22)
 
GOING UP . . . ON A TUESDAY
Samford owns a near-perfect 6-1 record when playing on Tuesday this season. All of the Bulldogs' midweek games have been played on Tuesdays and have all come against in-state opponents.
 
So far this season, Samford has defeated UAB, 13-2, Troy, 20-6, Alabama State twice, 18-7 and 13-3, and Jacksonville State twice, 10-7 and 7-6, but dropped a 5-3 road decision at Troy on April 5. The Bulldogs are outscoring their opponents by a total of 84-36 when playing on Tuesday this season.
 
SCORING SIX IS THE KEY
Samford owns a perfect 17-0 record this season when scoring six or more runs. Conversely, the Bulldogs are 1-11 this year when scoring three runs or fewer. Samford also boasts an unblemished 11-2 record in 2016 when scoring a run in the first inning. Additionally, Samford holds a 14-9 record this season when scoring before its opponent.
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Tuesday's midweek doubleheader against Alabama A&M, the Samford University baseball team will next be in action Friday at 6 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs continue play in their six-game non-conference homestand with a series-opening matchup versus the Kansas Jayhawks to be held at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
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Game One (April 19 - - 4 p.m.):  Video  |  Radio  |  Live Stats
Game Two (April 10 - - 7 p.m.):  Video  |  Radio  |  Live Stats

Samford Game Notes  |  Tickets