Game 1:  Friday (5 p.m. CT) - - - ESPN3  |  Audio  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets
Game 2:  Saturday (1 p.m. CT) - - - ESPN3  |  Audio  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets
Game 3:  Sunday (Noon CT) - - - Audio  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets

Samford Game Notes

MACON, Ga. -- The Samford University baseball team will begin play in its biggest Southern Conference series of the young 2017 league season Friday at 5 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs travel to face the first-place Mercer Bears in a critical three-game series to be held at the brand-new OrthoGeorgia Park.
 
Samford (19-10, 2-1 SoCon) heads into the matchup boasting a three-game winning streak. Since losing their conference opener at VMI last week, 4-0, the Bulldogs defeated the Keydets twice to win the weekend road series, 2-1 and 9-8, before cruising to an 11-3 home victory against Alabama A&M on Tuesday.
 
Samford owns an 8-7 record in road games this season and has been triumphant in five of its last seven games played away from Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Mercer (25-6, 5-1 SoCon) enters this weekend's series as the first-place team in the conference. The Bears, who were preseason picked to win the league by the media, are in the midst of a four-game winning streak, with all of the triumphs occurring on the road.
 
Over the weekend, Mercer traveled to Greenville, South Carolina, and earned a three-game sweep at Furman by scores of 5-4, 5-3 and 7-6 (10). The Bears then blasted in-state rival Kennesaw State on the road Tuesday, 10-4.
 
Mercer owns an impressive 17-3 record since March 4, including a 14-3 record at home. The Bears' three home losses this season have occurred against Bradley, 8-6, ETSU, 9-2, and Georgia Tech, 11-3.
 
Senior Danny Edgeworth leads Mercer with a .373 batting average this season. The Bears' native of Suwanee, Georgia, has already accumulated 47 hits this year and has scored 25 runs.
 
Additionally, senior catcher Charlie Madden has already powered 13 home runs and 12 doubles this season. Mercer's native of Atlanta, Georgia, boasts a .763 slugging percentage and 36 RBI. As a team, the Bears have already hit 52 home runs in 2017.
 
BULLDOGS' RECORD VERSUS MERCER - - THE DUNN ERA
Since Head Coach Casey Dunn took the reins to the Bulldogs' baseball program in 2004, Samford has compiled a 6-7 record against Mercer. The Bears have only been members of the SoCon for three years now and defeated the Bulldogs in the championship game of the 2015 SoCon Tournament two seasons ago, 5-0.
 
Last year, Samford played at home against Mercer in a three-game series and finished with a 2-1 record. The Bulldogs rallied late to win the first game of the set, 11-5, but then dropped the second contest of the series, 5-3. Then, in the rubber game of the matchup, Samford received a brilliant pitching performance from Parker Curry to win the series with a 3-1 triumph.
 
QUICK NOTES OF THE DAY
(1.): Samford's Wyatt 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 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 12 multi-hit games this season, including five games of at least three hits.
 
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 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.
 
WINNING IS CONTAGIOUS
Since a 10-5 loss to Indiana on March 3, Samford has been victorious in 16 of its last 21 games. The Bulldogs have earned victories against Indiana (2), Alabama State, Eastern Illinois (3), Alabama, Eastern Michigan (2), Troy, Kansas (2), UAB, VMI (2) and Alabama A&M during their recent winning stretch.
 
Samford powered 23 home runs in the 21-game span and junior first baseman Austin Edens has tallied a brilliant .349 batting average, seven home runs and 20 RBI. Samford's pitching staff also compiled a solid 3.77 earned run average, while the Bulldogs scored at a clip of 5.8 runs per game during the stretch.
 
THIS WEEKEND'S PITCHING MATCHUPS
 
SAMFORD'S STARTING ROTATION
Friday - - RHP, Mikhail Cazenave, Sr. (Rainbow City, Alabama) - - 2-3 (4.79 ERA)
Saturday - - RHP, Jesse McCord, So. (Spanish Fort, Alabama) - - 3-2 (5.05 ERA)
Sunday - - RHP, Stephen Jones, So. (Tallahassee, Florida) - - 2-1 (4.88 ERA)
 
MERCER'S STARTING ROTATION
Friday - - RHP, Ryan Askew, Sr. (Suwanee, Ga.) - - 3-0 (3.55 ERA)
Saturday - - LHP, Austin Cox, So. (Macon, Ga.) - - 2-1 (5.35 ERA)
Sunday - - RHP, Kevin Coulter, So. (Buford, Ga.) - - 2-2 (6.89 ERA)
 
EDENS IN THE SOCON
Samford's 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 (34) and in sole possession of the third position in hits (184).
 
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 - - - - -
#26 | Home Runs (30)
#35 | Home Runs Per Game (1.03)
#44 | Double Plays Turned (26)
#45 | Fewest Hits Allowed Per Game (8.08)
#47 | Strikeouts Per Nine Innings (8.9)
#48 | W-L Percentage (.655)
 
Kevin Williams, Jr. - - - - -
#11 | Home Runs (10)
#22 | Home Runs Per Game (0.34)
#70 | Total Bases (67)
 
Wyatt Burns - - - - -
#1 | Saves (12)
#22 | Pitching Appearances (16)
 
Austin Edens - - - - -
#53 | Home Runs (7)
 
Branden Fryman - - - - -
#60 | Sacrifice Bunts (5)
 
T.J. Dixon - - - - -
#75 | Hits (41)
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following this weekend's SoCon series at Mercer, the Samford University baseball team will next be in action Tuesday at 6 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs welcome the 11th-ranked Auburn Tigers to Joe Lee Griffin Field for a key nonconference matchup. Earlier this season, Samford registered a 7-6 victory at Auburn on Feb. 28.
 
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 (5 p.m. CT) - - - ESPN3  |  Audio  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets
Game 2:  Saturday (1 p.m. CT) - - - ESPN3  |  Audio  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets
Game 3:  Sunday (Noon CT) - - - Audio  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets

Samford Game Notes