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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University baseball team will begin play in a key five-game, late-season road swing Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs travel across town to face the UAB Blazers in a non-conference showdown to be held at Young Memorial Field.
 
Samford (26-22) heads into the contest with a bad taste in its mouth after suffering a three-game series sweep at home to Southern Conference opponent ETSU over the weekend. The Bulldogs dropped three-consecutive losses for the first time since March of 2015, when Samford lost four straight games (two at Jacksonville University, one at Alabama and one at home to Furman).
 
The Bulldogs were outscored by ETSU, 34-21, and suffered losses of 14-8, 12-9 and 8-4. Samford entered the weekend with a perfect 21-0 record this season when scoring at least six runs. In three games against ETSU, the Bulldogs dropped a pair of games when six or more runs.
 

Samford's Alex Lee boasts a 15-game hitting streak, dating all the way back to April 12 in a home contest against Alabama State. Since then, the Bulldogs' first baseman is batting .383 with 19 RBI and 12 runs scored.
 
Lee and Austin Edens both lead Samford's offensive attack this season with identical batting averages of .342. Lee has scored 36 runs and added 37 RBI in 2016, while Edens is ranked No. 11 in the nation with 15 homers.
 
The Bulldogs' Heath Quinn is ranked second in the country with 17 home runs this season and is currently third on the team with a .337 batting average. Juniors T.J. Dixon and Hunter Swilling follow with batting averages of .316 and .302, respectively.
 
Samford's starting pitcher Tuesday will be true freshman Connor Radcliff (2-3). Radcliff, the Bulldogs' native of Birmingham and former prep star at Pelham High School, has pitched 36.2 innings this season with 32 strikeouts. Radcliff will be making his 10th start of the year and his seventh against a non-conference opponent.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
UAB (19-28) enters Tuesday's matchup with hopes of snapping its current four-game losing streak. Last week, the Blazers concluded their arduous eight-game road swing with a midweek loss at Ohio State, 12-3, as well as a Conference USA series sweep at the hands of the Marshall Thundering Herd, 5-1, 4-3 (11) and 9-5.
 
UAB returns to Birmingham with a 3-18 record in road games, but a solid 16-10 mark when playing at home. The Blazers own a 5-1 record in their last six games held at Young Memorial Field, including a series sweep of Middle Tennessee and two major wins over first-place Southern Miss.
 
Offensively, UAB's top hitter this season is freshman center fielder Brewer Hicklen. Hicklen enters Tuesday's game with a .298 average on the year, including 35 runs and 51 hits, which are both team highs. Hicklen is followed this season by fellow freshman Carter Pharis (.294) and senior Griffin Gum (.287).
 
The Blazers' starting pitcher Tuesday will be junior left-hander Adam Lamar (3-3). Lamar, who is a native of Rogersville, owns a 2.80 earned-run average this season. He has pitched a total of 45 innings and compiled 22 strikeouts, while allowing 14 earned runs.
 

BULLDOGS' RECORD VERSUS UAB - - THE DUNN ERA
Since Head Coach Casey Dunn took the reins to the Bulldogs' baseball program in 2004, Samford has compiled a 15-7 record against UAB. Earlier this season, the Bulldogs played host to the Blazers on March 1 and registered a 13-2 victory. The game was shortened to seven innings due to an impending rain storm in the Birmingham area.
 
Last season, Samford and UAB only met once as the teams squared off at Joe Lee Griffin Field on April 29. The Bulldogs proved to be victorious in their home matchup last season by hanging on for a key 4-2 win.
 
SAMFORD AGAINST IN-STATE OPPONENTS
The Bulldogs boast an impressive 8-2 record against in-state opponents this season and have been victorious in 12 of their last 14 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 Alabama, 3-2, UAB, 13-2, Troy, 20-6, Alabama A&M, 18-6, Alabama State twice, 18-7 and 13-3, and Jacksonville State twice, 10-7 and 7-6, but suffered losses at Troy on April. 5 and against Alabama A&M on April 19. In total, Samford has outscored its in-state foes by a count of 110-51 this season and has tallied an average of 11.0 runs per matchup.
 
NATION'S HOME RUN LEADERS
Rank  Player                                                             HR
1.      Jake Burger, Missouri State               19
2.      Heath Quinn, Samford                        17
          Kyle Lewis, Mercer                                17
          Kyle Nowlin, Eastern Kentucky        17
5.      Nick Feight, UNCW                                16          
          Michael Cruz, Bethune-Cookman   16
          Darick Hall, Dallas Baptist                    16
          Spencer Johnson, Missouri State    16
          Gary Russo, Miami (Ohio)                  16
          Jesus Santana, Jackson State            16
11.    Austin Edens, Samford                        15
          Reid Russell, Lamar                               15
          Carl Stajduhar, New Mexico              15
 

SAMFORD'S AUSTIN EDENS NAMED SOCON PLAYER OF THE MONTH
Samford's Edens garnered one of the SoCon's top honors on May 5 as the Bulldogs' sophomore designated hitter from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was named the conference's Player of the Month, it was officially released by the league's headquarters.
 
Edens finished the month hitting .394 (28-of-71) with 23 RBI, 16 runs scored, seven home runs, five doubles and nine bases on balls. He only struck out 10 total times in the month, while compiling a brilliant .761 slugging percentage and .463 on-base percentage.
 
Samford's Edens finished April as one of the hottest hitters in the nation. The Bulldogs' slugger rapped four doubles in his final four games of the month and turned an early .188 average into a team-high .394 mark in just three weeks. Midway through April, Edens powered six home runs in four games and collected seven round-trippers in six outings.
 
BULLDOGS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Category, Rank (Value)
Home Runs, #5 (64)
Home Runs Per Game, #6 (1.33)
Hits, #14 (514)
Slugging Percentage, #16 (.479)
Runs, #22 (351)
On Base Percentage, #28 (.396)
Scoring, #28 (7.3 rpg)
Base on Balls, #31 (221)
Batting Average, #35 (.303)
 

SAMFORD'S RODRIGUEZ NAMED TO BROOKS WALLACE AWARD WATCH LIST
Samford's Danny Rodriguez proved to be among the best shortstops in the nation on April 22 as the Bulldogs' senior from Miami, Florida, earned a spot on the initial 2016 watch list for the Brooks Wallace Shortstop of the Year Award.
 
The award, sponsored by Mizuno, honors the nation's top shortstop and will be presented as part of the annual Night of Champions celebration on July 2 in Lubbock, Texas.
 
Samford's Rodriguez currently boasts a .283 batting average on the year and has already scored 35 runs. He has started at shortstop in 47 of the Bulldogs' 48 games this season and has only committed three errors in 203 total chances. Last year, he finished the 2015 campaign with a .289 average, 55 hits, 30 runs scored and 30 RBI.
 
Rodriguez, who starred at the Doral Academy in Miami, has played a key role in both Samford's offense and defense this season. With a stellar .985 fielding percentage, he has helped lock down the middle of the Bulldogs defense, while also batting seventh in their potent offense with 45 hits, 13 RBI and six doubles.
 
BULLDOGS' HEATH QUINN IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Category, Rank (Value)
Home Runs, #2 (17)
Home Runs Per Game, #5 (0.35)
Runs Batted In, #8 (60)
Runs Batted In Per Game, #10 (1.25)
Total Bases, #12 (128)
Slugging Percentage, #23 (.674)
Runs, #28 (51)
Runs Per Game, #40 (1.06)
 
IT'S RALLY TIME
Already this season, Samford has scored 10 runs in an inning TWICE and nine runs in an inning once. The first time that the Bulldogs scored double-digits in a single inning occurred Feb. 19, in the Bulldogs' opening game of the year against Butler. En route to a 14-1 victory, Samford exploded for 10 runs on nine hits in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Bulldogs garnered an 11-1 lead at the time.
 
Samford's second 10-run inning this season occurred March 8 at home against Troy. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Bulldogs sent 15 batters to the plate, scored 10 runs on four hits and gave Samford a 20-5 lead over the Trojans. The Bulldogs went on to win the game, 20-6.
 
Additionally, in its series-opening contest against Mercer on April 1, Samford rallied for nine runs and sent 14 hitters to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Bulldogs went from trailing 5-2 in the game to taking a decisive 11-5 decision.
 
SECOND-INNING STRETCH
So far this season, Samford is outscoring its opponents by a total of 43-22 in the second inning. Additionally, the Bulldogs are also outscoring the opposition, 40-29, in the third inning for a combined total of 83-51 in the second and third frames.
 

HUNTER SWILLING IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Category, Rank (Value)
Doubles, #4 (21)
Doubles Per Game, #8 (0.44)
Runs, #47 (48)
Total Bases, #51 (112)
Runs Batted In, #59 (48)
Runs Per Game, #72 (1.00)
Runs Batted In Per Game, #73 (1.00)
Home Runs, #99 (9)
 
GOING UP . . . ON A TUESDAY
Samford owns an impressive 8-2 record when playing on Tuesdays 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 Alabama, 3-2, UAB, 13-2, Troy, 20-6, Alabama A&M, 18-6, 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 and a 7-5 home defeat against Alabama A&M on April 19. The Bulldogs are outscoring their foes by a total of 110-51 when playing on Tuesdays.
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Tuesday's crosstown rivalry game at UAB, the Samford University baseball team will next be in action Friday at 5 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs begin a key three-game road SoCon series at The Citadel. Following Friday's opener, the teams are slated to square off Saturday at 1 p.m., and Sunday at noon at The Citadel's Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park in Charleston, South Carolina.
 
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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