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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University baseball team will continue play in its current seven-game road stretch Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs travel downtown to Regions Field for a key crosstown matchup against the UAB Blazers.
 
Samford (15-9) heads into the game with a full head of steam after taking two out of three contests on the road against the Kansas Jayhawks over the weekend. The Bulldogs boast a 12-4 record in their last 16 outings and Samford's young, talent-laden roster has been victorious in five of its six three-game weekend series this year.
 
Samford's only loss in a series occurred on the road at No. 5-ranked Florida State, Feb. 24-26.
 
The Bulldogs' series' victories this season have come against UNC Asheville (2-1), Indiana (2-1), Eastern Illinois (3-0), Eastern Michigan (2-1) and Kansas (2-1).
 
After losing Friday's series opener to the Jayhawks, 6-4, Samford rebounded with back-to-back road victories of 8-6 and 6-1. The Bulldogs are now 5-6 when playing away from home this season.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT
Samford received brilliant pitching performances Sunday from starter Stephen Jones, Josh Rich and Erin Baldwin. Jones turned in his best outing of the season and hurled six full innings of one-run baseball. The Bulldogs' talented sophomore from Tallahassee, Florida, only allowed five base hits in the contest, while striking out six Jayhawks.
 
Samford scored three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to build a nice 5-1 advantage for Jones en route to his second victory of the season.
 
The Bulldogs' Josh Rich pitched the seventh and eighth frames and didn't allow a single baserunner. Samford's right-hander from Hoover, Alabama, struck out three of the six Kansas players that he faced in the outing.
 
With a 6-1 advantage in the bottom of the ninth, the Bulldogs turned to junior right-hander Baldwin, who nicely shut the door on the Jayhawks as Samford secured its 15^th victory of the young season. Baldwin easily retired all three hitters that he faced in the ninth.
 
Offensively, Samford was buoyed by T.J. Dixon, Jordan Fucci, Troy Dixon and Sam Teague on Sunday. T.J. Dixon upped his team-leading batting average on the season to .354 with a stellar 3-for-5 outing. The Bulldogs' senior centerfielder also drove in a pair of huge runs with a bases-loaded double to right field in the fifth inning.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
UAB (14-10) enters Tuesday's matchup looking to snap a two-game losing streak. Over the weekend, the Blazers hosted a Conference USA series against Florida Atlantic at Regions Field. UAB won the first contest, 6-2, before dropping games two and three by scores of 6-3 and 9-5, respectively.
 
The Blazers are 3-3 in C-USA play this season. Two weeks ago, UAB opened its conference season on the road at Western Kentucky and won two out of three games.
 
The Blazers own a 2-4 record against in-state opponents this season. UAB earned a doubleheader sweep of Alabama A&M on March 8, 8-2 and 7-1, but have been defeated by Alabama State, 7-2, Troy, 4-2, Auburn, 4-0, and Alabama, 4-1.
 
Sophomore outfielder Brewer Hicklen leads the Blazers in hitting with a .349 batting average. UAB's native of Huntsville has hit all four of the team's home runs this season and also paces the squad in stolen bases (9), triples (5), RBI (13) and slugging percentage (.663).
 
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 16-7 record against UAB. Last year, the Bulldogs swept the annual home-and-home series with a 13-2 victory at Joe Lee Griffin Field, followed by a 3-1 triumph on the road against the Blazers on May 10.
 
Samford has won three straight games against UAB and hasn't been defeated in the series since May 7, 2014.
 
QUICK NOTES ON SAMFORD
(1.):  Samford's Wyatt Burns picked up two saves last week and continues to lead the nation in the category this season with 10. He has already surpassed his team-leading total of eight from last year. Burns holds first place in the category by one save over both Kevin Milam of St. Mary's and Josh Hiatt of North Carolina.
 
(2.):  Already this season, the Bulldogs own a perfect 10-0 record when leading after six innings, an 11-0 mark when leading after seven, as well as a perfect 12-0 record when leading after eight innings of action.
 
(3.):  Samford's T.J. Dixon already boasts 10 multi-hit games this season, including four games of at least three hits.
 
TUESDAY'S PITCHING MATCHUP
Samford - - RHP, Cody Shelton, So. (Brentwood, Tennessee) || 1-0 (1.62 ERA)
UAB - - TBA
 
SAMFORD IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
 
Team - - - - -
#23 | Home Runs (26)
#28 | Home Runs Per Game (1.08)
#35 | Double Plays Turned (22)
 
Kevin Williams, Jr. - - - - -
#11 | Home Runs (8)
#21 | Home Runs Per Game (0.33)
 
Wyatt Burns - - - - -
#1 | Saves (10)
#30 | Pitching Appearances (13)
 
Austin Edens - - - - -
#28 | Home Runs (7)
 
Branden Fryman - - - - -
#32 | Sacrifice Bunts (5)
 
Anthony Mulrine - - - - -
#49 | Sacrifice Flies (3)
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Tuesday's crosstown rivalry matchup with UAB, the Samford University baseball team will next be in action Friday at 5 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs begin play in their Southern Conference schedule on the road against the VMI Keydets. The upcoming three-game series will be held at Gray-Minor Stadium in Lexington, Virginia.
 
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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