Tickets  |  Video  |  Audio  |  Live Stats

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University baseball team will be competing in its first home game in nearly two weeks Tuesday as the Bulldogs return to campus from a seven-game road stretch to face the Alabama A&M Bulldogs at 6 p.m. (CT) in a nonconference in-state matchup to be held at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
Samford (18-10) returns home after playing its last seven games on the road. The Bulldogs finished the arduous trek with a 5-2 record and series victories against Kansas and VMI. Samford also mixed in a 5-1 triumph at UAB last week.
 
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.
 
Samford heads into Tuesday's game with a great deal of momentum after taking two out of three games at VMI over the weekend. In the Bulldogs' first Southern Conference series of the season, Samford lost the first game, 4-0, on Friday, but then bounced back to win the final two contests by scores of 2-1 and 9-8 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
 
The Bulldogs have been victorious in 15 of their last 20 games and own a stellar 10-3 record at home this season.
 
SAMFORD'S YETI GIVEAWAY AND RES LIFE TAILGATE
The Samford marketing department will be giving away $450 in Yeti Products (Yeti Cooler and five Tumblers) during Tuesday's home game against Alabama A&M. Registration is open to anyone and everyone. Additionally, Samford Res Life will be hosting a student tailgate during the game.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT
Samford used a pair of long-distance home runs from Kevin Williams, Jr., as well as a five-RBI performance from the Bulldogs' leftfielder Sunday to defeat the VMI Keydets in a critical SoCon series-clinching 9-8 victory held at Gray-Minor Stadium.
 
Following Williams, Jr.'s second home run of the afternoon, this one a three-run shot well over the wall in left field, Samford held an 8-2 advantage over VMI heading to the bottom of the eighth inning.
 
Williams, the Bulldogs' talented leftfielder from Miami, Florida, turned in a 2-for-5 outing Sunday, with both of his hits finding the base of the cliff well beyond the left-field wall. With his five-RBI outing, Williams upped his team-leading totals in the categories to 10 home runs and 22 RBI on the season. He entered the weekend ranked No. 15 in the nation in home runs.
 
VMI, despite trailing by six runs with two innings to play, made things interesting down the stretch.
 
The Keydets scored four runs on five hits in the bottom of the eighth and then added two more in the bottom of the ninth to make the score 9-8 with only one out.
 
Following Peyton Maddox's two-run homer to left-center field, the bases were empty with one out and Samford's Wyatt Burns on the mound. Burns entered the game with 11 saves on the season, a total that led the nation in the category.
 
Burns was able to get Collin Fleischer to line out to right field for the second out of the inning, and then forced Jake Huggins into a two-strike grounder to shortstop for the final out of the game.
 
Samford's 9-8 victory proved to be its seventh one-run triumph of the season. Additionally, Burns upped his nation-leading total in saves to 12. He tallied two strikeouts in the final 1.2 innings of the contest.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Alabama A&M (8-24) heads into Tuesday's matchup with aspirations of snapping its current five-game losing streak. Since defeating Alcorn State on March 26, 13-10, the Bulldogs have dropped contests against Morehead State (2) and Jackson State (3).
 
In Alabama A&M's home three-game setback against Jackson State over the weekend, the Bulldogs lost by scores of 6-3, 14-2 and 9-3. Alabama State has already played 12 games in its Southwestern Athletic Conference scheduled this season and holds a 5-7 record.
 
The Bulldogs have been outscored by a total of 286-115 this year and are allowing an average of 7.6 earned runs per game.
 
Alabama A&M's top hitter this season is senior infielder Cornelious Woods, who boasts a solid batting average of .340 in 27 games. Junior first baseman Carson McGregory is also hitting .314 this year to rank second on the team in the category.
 
BULLDOGS' RECORD AGAINST ALABAMA A&M - - THE DUNN ERA
Since Head Coach Casey Dunn took the reins to the Bulldogs' baseball program in 2004, Samford has compiled an 11-2 record against Alabama A&M. Last season, the teams played a midweek doubleheader at Joe Lee Griffin Field and split the contest held in Birmingham. Samford plowed its way to a demonstrative 18-6 victory in the first game, but then Alabama A&M rebounded to take game two, 7-5.
 
TUESDAY'S PITCHING MATCHUP
Samford - - RHP, Cody Shelton, So. (Brentwood, Tennessee) || 2-0 (1.66 ERA)
Alabama A&M - - TBA
 
QUICK NOTES ON SAMFORD
(1.):  Samford's Burns picked up two saves last week and continues to lead the nation in the category this season with 12. He has already surpassed his team-leading total of eight from last year.
 
(2.):  Already this season, the Bulldogs own a perfect 13-0 record when leading after six innings, a 14-0 mark when leading after seven, as well as a perfect 15-0 record when leading after eight innings of action.
 
(3.):  Samford's T.J. Dixon already boasts 12 multi-hit games this season, including five games of at least three hits.
 
SAMFORD'S PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Samford's Jesse McCord limited the VMI Keydets to only one hit in seven full innings of action Saturday as the Bulldogs earned a key 2-1 road victory in SoCon play. McCord finished with eight strikeouts and only allowed a total of five baserunners in the win. Samford's sophomore native of Spanish Fort only needed 91 pitches in the contest as he picked up his third victory of the season.
 
SAMFORD IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
 
Team - - - - -
#27 | Home Runs (29)
#37 | Home Runs Per Game (1.04)
#43 | Double Plays Turned (25)
#51 | Fewest Hits Allowed Per Game (8.12)
#55 | W-L Percentage (.643)
 
Kevin Williams, Jr. - - - - -
#10 | Home Runs (10)
#20 | Home Runs Per Game (0.36)
 
Wyatt Burns - - - - -
#1 | Saves (12)
#19 | Pitching Appearances (16)
 
Austin Edens - - - - -
#50 | Home Runs (7)
 
Branden Fryman - - - - -
#58 | Sacrifice Bunts (5)
 
T.J. Dixon - - - - -
#56 | Hits (41)
 
SAMFORD'S PLAYER OF THE MONTH
Samford's Edens played a huge role in the Bulldogs' 13-6 overall record last month as he compiled a .373 batting average to lead the team. Edens also led Samford with seven home runs, 19 RBI and 28 base hits. Additionally, he scored 10 runs and powered five doubles to help propel Samford to a huge March, which featured key victories against Alabama, Indiana (2), Kansas and UAB.
 
Edens tallied a .720 slugging percentage and a .440 on-base percentage in the month, while collecting a jaw-dropping total of 54 total bases. Throughout March, he tallied four three-hit outings, including games against Eastern Illinois (2), Troy and Kansas.
 
Edens drove in six runs against Eastern Illinois on two runs in a March 12 contest before driving in four runs at Kansas on March 25. He hit safely in 15 of the team's 19 games of the month and reached base safely in 16 contests.
 
SAMFORD'S PITCHER OF THE MONTH
The Bulldogs' Burns finished the month with a 2-0 record, seven saves, 10 strikeouts and a miniscule 1.88 earned run average. Samford's nation's leader in saves made a team-high 10 appearances in March and only allowed three earned runs.
 
Burns played a huge role in Samford's 13-6 record throughout the month as the Bulldogs earned four one-run victories, all of which he saved. Three of Burns' saves in the month proved to be at least two innings long.
 
Samford's coaching staff has not shied away from using the junior right-hander in stressful situations, even if it's not the ninth inning. Against Indiana on March 5, Burns struck out three of the eight batters he faced to lift the Bulldogs to a key 5-3 victory.
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Tuesday's in-state matchup with Alabama A&M, the Samford University baseball team will next be in action this weekend, Friday-Sunday, as the Bulldogs return to the road for a huge three-game SoCon series against the first-place Mercer Bears. The series is scheduled to begin Friday at 5 p.m. (CT) with games one and two slated to be broadcast live on both the American Sports Network and ESPN3.
 
Saturday's game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., while Sunday's series finale will start at noon.
 
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.

Tickets  |  Video  |  Audio  |  Live Stats