Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
Updated Samford Stats

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The Samford University baseball team picked up a pair of big-time road victories Saturday as the Bulldogs slugged their way to a doubleheader sweep of the first-place UNCG Spartans en route to a Southern Conference series win held at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
 
Samford rode a brilliant pitching performance from Parker Curry to a 9-3 triumph in game one, while the Bulldogs' second game starter Mikhail Cazenave proved to be just as good in a 9-5 victory in the nightcap.
 
"It was great to get two quality starts on the same day from our pitching staff," said Samford head coach Casey Dunn. "I thought UNCG did a nice job the first couple of innings against Parker, but then he just settled in and did a good job of getting through with some really quick innings. It was a really good outing for Parker and I thought he threw the ball exceptionally well.
 
"Then, in game two, Mikhail was really the exciting part of the whole day for me. He went six innings, only gave up three hits and pitched extremely well against a very good baseball team."
 
With its doubleheader sweep Saturday, Samford (26-19, 8-7 SoCon) improved its all-time record to 16-8 against UNCG (33-13, 11-4 SoCon). The Bulldogs also tallied their first road series victory in SoCon play this season and moved to 8-10 when playing away from home.
 
Heading into Saturday's matchup, the Spartans had only suffered one defeat at home all season long. UNCG was beaten twice by Samford in the doubleheader and now holds a 24-3 record when playing in the friendly confines of the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
 
Saturday's outcome proved to be the first time that UNCG lost a series all season.
 
GAME ONE - - SAMFORD def. UNCG, 9-3
In the first matchup, the Bulldogs received a masterful pitching performance from Curry (5-1) en route to its decisive 9-3 victory. Curry, Samford's senior pitcher from Pelham, Alabama, threw a complete game and struck out six UNCG hitters in the win. He only allowed two earned runs on seven hits and only walked one Spartan.
 
UNCG actually jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first game. The Spartans tallied a run in the first inning and then added two more in the second frame, but from that point on, Curry shut the door and pitched the Bulldogs to victory.
 
The turning point of the game, maybe the entire day, occurred with two outs in the top of the third inning when Samford's Alex Lee blasted a deep two-run homer over the scoreboard in right-center field. Lee's blast shifted the entire momentum of the contest and seemingly put the Bulldogs in the driver's seat despite the game only being tied at 3-3.
 
Lee, the reigning SoCon Player of the Week, paced Samford's offensive attack in the game by going 3-for-5 with four RBI and a run scored.
 
The Bulldogs' T.J. Dixon and Austin Edens also registered multiple-hit performances, while Heath Quinn, Damon Waller, Grant Colton and Troy Dixon all added base hits. Colton powered the first home run of his young burgeoning career in the sixth inning as he sent a skyrocket over the wall in left field.
 
"I thought T.J. had a phenomenal day for us and I thought Austin and Alex both did a great job," Dunn said. "We hit well today at times, but I feel like we can get so much better if we put it all together. Today, when some of our guys struggled. Our guys behind them came up with some really big hits, especially with two outs."
 
After Lee's blast tied the score at 3-3 in the third, Samford added a run in the fourth, two more in the sixth and a huge three-spot in the eighth to put the game away.
 
The Bulldogs outhit the nation's leading team in batting average, 11-7.
 
GAME TWO - - SAMFORD def. UNCG, 9-5
The Bulldogs didn't wait very long to jump all over the Spartans in game two. Samford scored three runs in the top of the first inning and then added another tally in the third to garner a 4-0 advantage heading into the fourth frame.
 
Edens proved to be the leader of the Bulldogs' offensive attack as he put together an outstanding 4-for-5 effort with four RBI and a run scored. Three of Edens' four hits on the day were doubles.
 
"Austin Edens just had an unbelievable day for us today," said Dunn. "It was a great day for him, and not only just the doubles and the hits, but he also hit balls down the left-field line and the right-field line, so he was mixing it up, using the whole field and was really good for us."
 
T.J. Dixon blasted his second home run of the season and turned in a 3-for-5 performance at the dish, while Quinn went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI.
 
Eight Bulldogs hit safely in their 9-5 game two victory over UNCG as Hunter Swilling, Lee, Waller, Danny Rodriguez and Troy Dixon also notched base hits. Samford again outhit the nation's leader in batting average, this time 14-7.
 
Pitching for the Bulldogs, Cazenave (3-1) turned in his best outing of the season as he only allowed two earned runs on three hits in six full innings. Samford's highly-touted junior from Rainbow City, Alabama, struck out five Spartans and only faced 24 batters in the contest.
 
UNCG tried to mount an early comeback by scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Bulldogs' countered with four runs of their own in the top of the fifth.
 
Later, with Samford leading 9-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Spartans were able to scratch together three runs on four hits, but the Bulldogs' Wyatt Burns came on to shut the door on their rally.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, Burns breezed his way through the frame as he got UNCG out in order to close out the game and to secure Samford's weekend series victory.
 
"The biggest thing about today is that we got two quality starts and we played some better baseball," Dunn said. "We did it with a lot of different guys. We've had a few injuries here lately, and our younger guys behind them have really stepped it up and done a great job for us."
 
The Samford University baseball team will next be in action Friday at 6 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs begin a critical conference home series against the ETSU Buccaneers. Next weekend's three-game set will be held at Samford's Joe Lee Griffin Field in Birmingham.
 
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Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
Updated Samford Stats