Game 1:  Friday at 3:05 p.m. (CT) - - ESPN3  |  Audio  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets
Game 2:  Saturday at 2:05 p.m. (CT) - - ESPN3  |  Audio  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets
Game 3:  Sunday at 12:05 p.m. (CT) - - ESPN3  |  Audio  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets

Samford Game Notes

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- The Samford University baseball team will begin play in a seven-game road swing Friday at 3:05 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs square off against the Kansas Jayhawks in a series-opening contest to be held at Hoglund Ballpark. Samford and Kansas are scheduled to play three games this weekend with Saturday's contest set for 2:05 p.m., and Sunday's matchup to be held at 12:05 p.m.
 
Following this weekend's three-game series at Kansas, Samford (13-8) will play at Regions Park against UAB on Tuesday before traveling to Lexington, Virginia, for a three-game, Southern Conference-opening set at VMI.
 
The Bulldogs head into Friday's series opener at Kansas (9-11) with a bit of positive momentum after registering a 4-3 home victory against Troy on Wednesday. Samford scored a pair of runs in the final three innings of play to defeat the Trojans in a nonconference showdown held at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
With the win, Samford remained dominant at home this season and improved to 10-3 when competing in the friendly confines of The Griff. The Bulldogs also avenged Tuesday's loss on the road at Troy to split the annual home-and-home series at 1-1.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT
In the bottom of the seventh inning Wednesday, Samford trailed the Trojans, 3-2. The Bulldogs' Taylor Garris then dropped down a bunt single to third base with one out in the inning and later advanced to second base on a balk from Troy's Corey Childress.
 
Samford's T.J. Dixon, who finished a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBI and run scored, followed with a run-scoring single into left-center field to scored Garris all the way from second base. His run evened the score of the game at 3-3 as he closed out the contest with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate.
 
Samford's game-winning run Wednesday occurred in the bottom of the eighth inning.
 
Troy Dixon rifled a one-out single to left field. Later on, with Ayrton Schafer batting, Dixon broke towards second for a stolen base. On the play, Troy's pitcher Ryan Fultz thought he had Dixon picked off at first, but airmailed his throw well over Justin Friends' outstretched arms and into the corner in right field.
 
Dixon, who's one of the fastest guys on Samford's squad this season, quickly make his turn at second base following the throwing error and powered around third to barely slide under the tag of Troy's catcher, Chase Smartt, for the game-winning run.
 
With a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth inning, Samford brought in Wyatt Burns to pitch for the Bulldogs and he shut down the Trojans in order. Burns, who leads the nation in saves this season, earned his career-high ninth this year. Last year, the Bulldogs' junior native of Pinson, finished the campaign with eight saves.
 
BULLDOGS' PITCHING LOOKS STRONG
Samford junior right-hander Josh Rich earned the victory Wednesday against Troy as he proved to be the pitcher of record in the eighth inning when Dixon sped around the bases for the game-winning run. He retired all three batters that he faced in the top of the frame.
 
The Bulldogs' Cody Shelton started on the hill and turned in a solid outing. He hurled five full innings and only allowed three earned runs on five hits. He tallied five strikeouts in the performance.
 
Senior Jared Brasher came in for two innings and only allowed one hit, while striking out four Trojans.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Kansas enters this weekend's series with hopes of bouncing back from a 7-3 home loss to Creighton on Wednesday. The Jayhawks' hot start was halted after the first inning. Kansas scored its first run after two pitches in the game when junior shortstop Matt McLaughlin and freshman right fielder Brett Vosik smoked back-to-back first-pitch doubles.
 
Kansas then tacked on another run by way of an RBI single by freshman catcher Jaxx Groshans to take an early 2-0 advantage.
 
However, that early rally ended after a Devin Foyle strikeout with runners at first and second and an inning-ending double play kept the scoring tight, 2-0.
 
That double play ball helped Creighton keep the damage to a minimum and put the pressure back on Kansas starter Ryan Zeferjahn, who cruised through the first frame, but found himself in trouble in the latter part of his outing.
 
The Bluejays tagged Zeferjahn for four hits in the fourth inning and stole the game's momentum with a three-spot in the frame. They tacked on another run in the fifth ending the rookie's day at five innings pitched, eight hits, four runs, one walk and six strikeouts.

Eight of the Bluejays' hits came in the first five innings off Zeferjahn, but Creighton managed just two base knocks the remainder of the game.
  
The Kansas bullpen held Creighton to just those two hits, but they were clutch as the Bluejays scored three more runs the final four innings to steal the win, 7-3.

Six different Jayhawks each recorded one hit Wednesday with McLaughlin, Vosik and junior designated hitter Luke Bakula smoking doubles. The trio each added a run scored to round out Kansas' three-run total on the day.
 
SAMFORD'S STARTING ROTATION
Friday - - RHP, Mikhail Cazenave, Sr. (Rainbow City, Alabama) - - 2-1 (4.11 ERA)
Saturday - - RHP, Jesse McCord, So. (Spanish Fort, Alabama) - - 2-2 (5.84 ERA)
Sunday - - RHP, Stephen Jones, So. (Tallahassee, Florida) - - 1-1 (6.33 ERA)
 
KANSAS' STARTING ROTATION
Friday - - RHP, Sean Rackoski, Jr. (Chandler, Ariz.) - - 2-2 (3.24 ERA)
Saturday - - LHP, Taylor Turski, Jr. (Temecula, Calif.) - - 1-2 (3.07 ERA)
Sunday - - RHP, Jackson Goddard, So. (Tulsa, Okla.) - - 2-0 (3.70 ERA)
 
LAST SEASON'S SERIES BETWEEN THE TEAMS
Last year, Samford played host to Kansas for a three-game set held in Birmingham, Alabama, and won the first all-time series between the teams, 2-1. The Bulldogs were victorious in the first two contests, 3-2 and 13-9, before coming up short in the third game, 9-5.
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following this weekend's three-game road series at Kansas, the Samford University baseball team will next be in action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs travel across town to Regions Park for a key intra-city matchup with the UAB Blazers.
 
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.

Game 1:  Friday at 3:05 p.m. (CT) - - ESPN3  |  Audio  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets
Game 2:  Saturday at 2:05 p.m. (CT) - - ESPN3  |  Audio  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets
Game 3:  Sunday at 12:05 p.m. (CT) - - ESPN3  |  Audio  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets

Samford Game Notes