Game 1 - - - Thursday, April 13 at 6 p.m. CT - - - Tickets  |  Video  |  Audio  |  Live Stats
Game 2 - - - Friday, April 14 at 6 p.m. CT - - - Tickets  |  Video  |  Audio  |  Live Stats
Game 3 - - - Saturday, April 15 at 1 p.m. CT - - - Tickets  |  Video  |  Audio  |  Live Stats

Samford Game Notes

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University baseball team will begin play in a key Southern Conference home series against The Citadel Bulldogs this week as the league rivals are set to square off Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
The teams will begin the series Thursday at 6 p.m. (CST) instead of the typical Friday start date due to the Easter weekend. This week, the SoCon series' will end on Saturday to give the student-athletes, coaches and staff a day off on Easter Sunday.
 
Friday's game is also scheduled to start at 6 p.m., while Saturday's series finale is slated to begin at 1 p.m.
 
GETTING STARTED
Samford (19-14, 2-4 SoCon) heads into Thursday's series opener with aspirations of snapping their current four-game losing streak. Since winning three straight games against VMI (2) and Alabama A&M, the Bulldogs have come up short in their last four outings versus teams ranked in the top 35 in the national ratings percentage index (RPI).
 
Last weekend, Samford was swept on the road against first-place Mercer, which currently owns an RPI of No. 34. Then, the Bulldogs returned home for a game with the No. 10-ranked Auburn Tigers and fell short in a 16-15 matchup held at Joe Lee Griffin Field. Auburn boasts an impressive RPI of No. 28 this season.
 
Samford holds an impressive 11-4 record when playing at home this season and this weekend's series will mark the Bulldogs' first SoCon series held in Birmingham this year.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT
In front of a school-record crowd of 2,645 fans Tuesday, Samford rallied to score seven runs in the last four innings of play, but came just one run short in a hard-fought 16-15 slugfest against the No. 10-ranked Auburn Tigers in a nonconference showdown held at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
The Bulldogs' crowd of 2,645 fans surpassed the school's previous record of 2,145, which was registered in 2009 against Alabama.
 
With nobody out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Samford only trailed Auburn by a single run, 16-15, and sophomore second baseman Troy Dixon led off the frame with a single to right-center field.
 
Next up, Troy's older brother, senior centerfielder T.J. Dixon, worked an seven-pitch full count and then drilled the eighth pitch right back to the pitcher, Daniel Robert, who miraculously snagged the hard-hit line drive and threw the ball over to first base for a double play.
 
T.J. Dixon, who finished 4-for-6 with four runs scored and three RBI in the game, turned in his hardest hit of the game in the ninth inning, but the ball just happened to go directly into Robert's glove for a momentum-ailing double play. The Tigers then went on to get freshman Branden Fryman for the third out of the game to secure the 16-15 win.
 
Samford's Fryman also turned in a good day at the plate Tuesday. The Bulldogs' starting shortstop from Molino, Florida, finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored.
 
Six Bulldogs tallied multiple-hit performances against Auburn. T.J. Dixon led the way with his first four-hit outing of the season, while Fryman and Jordan Fucci notched three-hit nights for Samford. Fucci, the Bulldogs' talented starting right fielder went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.
 
True freshman Taylor Garris, the reigning Southern Conference Player of the Week, blasted his fourth home run of the season and finished with a career-high five RBI. The Bulldogs' third baseman turned in a 2-for-4 performance and also tallied a key two-RBI single to left field in the bottom of the eighth inning.
 
Garris drove in all five of his runs in the last three innings of play and his late two-RBI single trimmed Auburn's lead to 16-15.
 
GARRIS NAMED SOCON PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Samford's Garris was honored Monday by being named the SoCon Player of the Week for all games played from April 3-9. He 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.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
The Citadel (10-20, 2-4 SoCon) enters Thursday's contest with hopes of bouncing back from a 6-4 road loss at Winthrop on Tuesday. In its last six outings, The Citadel owns a 1-5 record, with its lone victory coming on the road at Charleston Southern, 8-6, on April 4.
 
The Citadel is currently tied for sixth place in the SoCon standings along with Samford. The teams are both 2-4 this year in conference action, while The Citadel has played at home against VMI and then on the road at Western Carolina. The Bulldogs took two out of three games versus VMI, but were swept in three outings at Western Carolina, 4-3, 6-0 and 14-1 (7).
 
Junior Jonathan Sabo is The Citadel's top hitter this season with a .325 batting average. He currently boasts team-highs in runs (30), hits (39), home runs (7), RBI (21), total bases (67), slugging percentage (.558) and on-base percentage (.400). Sabo proves to be The Citadel's only player hitting over .300 at this point in the season.
 
The Citadel's top pitcher this year is talented left-hander JP Sears. Sears, the Bulldogs' native of Sumter, South Carolina, owns a 4-1 record this season and boasts a miniscule 2.02 earned run average. He is also ranked ninth in the nation with 72 strikeouts in 49 innings this year.
 
SAMFORD'S RECORD VERSUS THE CITADEL - - THE DUNN ERA
Since Head Coach Casey Dunn took the reins to the Bulldogs' baseball program in 2004, Samford has compiled a 15-9 record against The Citadel. Last season, Samford swept a three-game series on the road in Charleston, South Carolina, by scores of 7-6, 5-4 and 11-7. The Bulldogs have won four straight games against The Citadel, but lost their series two years ago held in Birmingham, two games to one.
 
QUICK NOTES OF THE DAY
(1.): Samford's Wyatt Burns leads the nation in saves this season with 12. Midway through the year, he has already surpassed his team-leading total of eight from last year.
 
(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 perfect 16-0 record when leading after eight innings of action.
 
(3.): Samford's T.J. Dixon already boasts 14 multi-hit games this season, six games of at least three hits, as well as Tuesday's brilliant four-hit performance against No. 10-ranked Auburn.
 
THE ROAD MORE TRAVELED
The Bulldogs recently finished an arduous seven-game road trek with a 5-2 record and series victories at Kansas and VMI. Samford also mixed in a 5-1 road triumph at UAB between road series'. During the Bulldogs' 11-day road swing, they traveled a total of 2,640 miles via bus for a drive-time total of 38 hours on the interstate.
 
THIS WEEKEND'S PITCHING MATCHUPS
 
SAMFORD'S STARTING ROTATION
Thursday - - RHP, Cody Shelton, So. Brentwood, Tennessee) - - 3-0 (1.75 ERA)
Friday - - RHP, Mikhail Cazenave, Sr. (Rainbow City, Alabama) - - 2-4 (4.89 ERA)
Saturday - - RHP, Jesse McCord, So. (Spanish Fort, Alabama) - - 3-3 (5.59 ERA)
 
THE CITADEL'S STARTING ROTATION
Thursday - - LHP, JP Sears, Jr. (Sumter, South Carolina) - - 4-1 (2.02 ERA)
Friday - - RHP, Will Abbott, Fr. (Camden, South Carolina) - - 0-3 (4.02 ERA)
Saturday - - RHP, Alex Bialakis, So. (Boca Raton, Florida) - - 0-2 (6.23 ERA)
 
EDENS IN THE SOCON
Samford's Austin Edens is the active SoCon career leader in both home runs (42) and RBI (135). He is also second on the active SoCon career leader list in doubles (36) and in sole possession of the third position in hits (186).
 
DID YOU KNOW?
Under the tutelage of 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.
 
SAMFORD IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
 
Team - - - - -
#36 | Home Runs (34)
#42 | Home Runs Per Game (1.03)
#47 | Pitching Strikeouts Per Nine Innings (8.9)
#51 | Double Plays Turned (29)
 
Kevin Williams, Jr. - - - - -
#22 | Home Runs (10)
#33 | Home Runs Per Game (0.30)
 
Wyatt Burns - - - - -
#1 | Saves (12)
#26 | Pitching Appearances (18)
 
Branden Fryman - - - - -
#28 | Sacrifice Bunts (7)
 
T.J. Dixon - - - - -
#48 | Hits (48)
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following this weekend's home SoCon series against The Citadel, the Samford University baseball team will take a break from midweek nonconference contests and next be in action April 21 at 5 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs travel to Spartanburg, South Carolina, for an important three-game conference series against the Wofford Terriers.
 
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Game 1 - - - Thursday, April 13 at 6 p.m. CT - - - Tickets  |  Video  |  Audio  |  Live Stats
Game 2 - - - Friday, April 14 at 6 p.m. CT - - - Tickets  |  Video  |  Audio  |  Live Stats
Game 3 - - - Saturday, April 15 at 1 p.m. CT - - - Tickets  |  Video  |  Audio  |  Live Stats

Samford Game Notes