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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University baseball team will be hosting its highest-ranked opponent of the 2017 season Tuesday at 6 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs welcome the 10th-ranked Auburn Tigers to Joe Lee Griffin Field for a key nonconference contest.
 
Samford is expecting a standing-room-only crowd for Tuesday's game, therefore fans are encouraged to grab their tickets online, and as early as possible. Just follow this LINK, to order your tickets.
 
Additionally, fans ARE also allowed to bring tailgating-style chairs into the stadium.
 
STEED'S JEWELERS DIAMOND DIG
Tuesday is shaping up to be a big night for fans in attendance at Joe Lee Griffin Field. In addition to the marquee matchup between the Tigers and Bulldogs, Samford baseball will be hosting its annual Diamond Dig following the game, where one lucky fan will win a $650 diamond cross necklace, courtesy of Steed's Jewelers.
 
VOLLEYBALL RING CEREMONY
In pregame ceremonies, Head Coach Keylor Chan and his 2016 SoCon Volleyball Champions will receive their championship rings.
 
DAWSON COLLEGE MINISTRY NIGHT
Tuesday is also Dawson College Ministry Night with free pizza and t-shirts for Samford students, while supplies last. The Mello Yello Sampling Team will also be onsite with free samples of Mello Yello, the original smooth citrus soda.
 
PINK OUT SOCKS
And finally, Samford will partner with the ladies of Zeta Tau Alpha for a "Pink Out" to promote breast cancer awareness and education. A limited number of Pink Out socks will be available for purchase and donations to the ZTA Foundation and the Kay Yow Cancer Fund will be accepted throughout the night. 
 
GETTING STARTED
Samford (19-13) returns home to Joe Lee Griffin Field after playing a three-game Southern Conference road series at Mercer over the weekend. In the matchup, the first-place Bears were able to sweep the conference series with wins of 4-2, 9-6 and 7-1. Therefore, Samford suffered its first SoCon sweep since early May of last season when ETSU won three straight games over the Bulldogs in Birmingham.
 
Despite its disappointing weekend, Samford returns to play at home Tuesday where it owns an impressive 11-3 record this season. The Bulldogs have won nine of their last 10 games at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
Additionally, Samford has been impressive against in-state opponents this year. The Bulldogs head into Tuesday's game boasting a 6-2 record over team's located in Alabama. Already this season, Samford has defeated Auburn, 7-6, Alabama State, 10-7, Alabama, 10-3, Troy, 4-3, UAB, 5-1, and Alabama A&M, 11-3.
 
DID YOU KNOW?
Under the tutelage of Head Coach Casey Dunn, Samford is the winningest Division I program in the state of Alabama since 2011, and the Bulldogs have had 19 players selected in the MLB Draft over the last six years.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT
Samford was defeated by the Mercer Bears on Sunday, 7-1, in the SoCon series finale held at OrthoGeorgia Park.
 
The Bears scored two runs in the first inning, two more in the second and added a third score in the third frame to garner an early 5-0 lead.
 
Samford's run was scored in the top of the fifth inning as true freshman third baseman Taylor Garris connected for his third home run of the season. Garris finished 2-for-3 at the plate Sunday and registered two of the Bulldogs' three base hits. He now leads the team in batting average this year with an impressive mark of .387.
 
Sophomore Troy Dixon tallied Samford's third hit of the game.
 
Mercer's Kevin Coulter started on the hill for the Bears on Sunday and only allowed one earned run on three hits in the victory. He struck out four Bulldogs and only allowed a single base on balls.
 
Samford's Stephen Jones started the game and suffered his second loss of the 2017 campaign. The Bulldogs' sophomore right-hander allowed three earned runs in two full innings of action. Samford sent nine pitchers to the mound Sunday. Mercer rapped seven hits in the contest, but didn't score a run in its final two innings.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Auburn (24-10) heads into Tuesday's contest as the 10^th-ranked team in the nation and are looking to rebound from two straight losses on the road at Texas A&M over the weekend. The Tigers won the first game of the series, 2-1, on Friday, but then dropped the next two outings, 6-3 and 3-1, on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. It proved to be the only three-game series that Auburn has lost this season.
 
The Tigers entered their weekend series at Texas A&M ranked No. 7 in the nation. Since losing at home to Samford earlier this season on Feb. 28, Auburn won 12 of their next 15 games, including a series sweep of No. 5-ranked Florida and additional series victories against South Carolina and Georgia.
 
The Tigers will only be playing their eighth road game of the series Tuesday. Auburn currently boasts an impressive 19-7 record at home, but is 4-3 when playing on the road.
 
Auburn's top hitter this season is junior outfielder Jonah Todd with a .341 batting average. He leads the team with 28 runs and 42 hits, while boasting an impressive .439 on-base percentage. Senior Robert Daniel and freshman Conor Davis are also batting over .300. Daniel owns a .317 batting average with a team-high RBI, while Davis is hitting .309 this year.
 
As a team, Auburn owns a 3.55 earned run average.
 
BULLDOGS' RECORD AGAINST AUBURN - - THE DUNN ERA
Since Dunn took the reins to the Bulldogs' baseball program in 2004, Samford has compiled a 12-14 record against Auburn, including a 7-6 road victory over the Tigers earlier this season. The Bulldogs haven't played at home against Auburn since March 31, 2015, when the Tigers earned a 9-4 victory.
 
TUESDAY'S PITCHING MATCHUP
Samford - - RHP, Tristan Widra, Jr. (Hoover, Alabama) || 1-2 (3.00 ERA)
Auburn - - RHP, Christian Camacho, Fr. (Elk Grove, Illinois) || 1-1 (3.50 ERA)
 
QUICK NOTES ON SAMFORD
(1.): Samford has been swept twice this season. On Feb. 24-26, the Bulldogs were swept on the road at No. 5-ranked Florida State. The next Tuesday, Samford earned a 7-6 road victory at Auburn. Then, on April 7-9, the Bulldogs were swept on the road at first-place Mercer. On Tuesday, Samford plays at home against No. 7-ranked Auburn.
 
(2.): Already this season, the Bulldogs own a perfect 14-0 record when leading after six innings, a 15-0 mark when leading after seven, as well as a 16-0 record when leading after eight innings of action.
 
(3.): Samford's T.J. Dixon already boasts 13 multi-hit games this season, including five games of at least three hits.
 
GARRIS NAMED SOCON PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Samford's Garris turned in a brilliant .667 batting average last week as he hit 10-of-15 from the plate in games against Alabama A&M and Mercer. He also scored five runs, tallied four RBI, blasted two home runs and earned a stolen base.
 
Garris finished with at least two hits in every game last week, including a pair of three-hit performance against Alabama A&M and Mercer. The Bulldogs' talented true freshman third baseman opened the week with a 3-for-4 night against Alabama A&M. He played a key role in Samford's 11-3 victory as he drove in a pair of runs, scored two runs and connected on a deep home run to left field.
 
Over the weekend, Garris finished 7-of-11 on the road against first-place Mercer. He opened the series Friday with a 2-for-3 outing, then added a 3-for-5 performance on Saturday before closing out the series with another 2-for-3 day and his third home run of the season, as well as his second round-tripper of the week.
 
Garris' stellar .667 batting average last week helped him build his team-high total to .387 this year. He also compiled 16 total bases, a 1.067 slugging percentage and a .667 on-base percentage.
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Tuesday's in-state matchup against No. 10-ranked Auburn, the Samford University baseball team will next be in action Thursday at 6 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs begin a three-game SoCon home series against The Citadel Bulldogs to be held at Joe Lee Griffin Field
 
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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