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Samford Game Notes

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Samford University baseball team will begin its quest for an automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Tournament Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs open play in the Southern Conference Championship presented by Holston Gases against the third-seeded UNCG Spartans in a first-round matchup to be held at Fluor Field.
 
Samford (31-24, 11-13 SoCon) heads into the tournament as the sixth-seeded team in the competition. Last year, the Bulldogs finished the regular season in the same position and also faced third-seeded UNCG in the opening round. Samford earned an 8-5 victory in the matchup and eventually finished the tournament just one game shy of championship Sunday.
 
The Bulldogs have reached the SoCon championship game in four of the last six years and have earned a semifinal appearance five times since 2011.
 
Samford heads into Wednesday's game against UNCG riding the positive momentum of a series win over the Spartans last week. The Bulldogs defeated UNCG in the first two matchups, 4-0 and 7-1, before falling in the season finale, 14-7.
 
Already locked into the sixth seed of the SoCon Tournament, Samford rested a majority of its starters and sent 10 pitchers to the mound Saturday in the weather-shortened loss.
 
The Bulldogs have been victorious in three of their last four games, as well as five of their last eight. Samford finished the season with a solid 20-10 record at home and an 11-14 mark when playing on the road.
 
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.
 
QUICK NOTES ON SAMFORD
(1.): With Thursday's 4-0 victory over UNCG, Samford reached the 30-win plateau for the eighth time in the last nine seasons, including four straight years. Dunn, who is in his 13^th season as the Bulldogs' head coach, recently reached the prestigious 400-win plateau and owns a stellar 405-349 overall record at Samford.
 
(2.): Samford owns a perfect 25-0 record when leading after six innings this season. The Bulldogs are also 24-0 after seven and 25-0 when leading after eight frames.
 
(3.): Samford holds an impressive 23-4 record when scoring first this year. Additionally, the Bulldogs boast a 9-4 record in one-run games.
 
(4.): Four different Samford players have earned five-RBI performances this season. Juniors Austin Edens and Kevin Williams, Jr., have both accomplished the feat, as have true freshmen Ayrton Schafer and Taylor Garris. Schafer has registered five RBI in a single game twice this season.
 
WEDNESDAY'S PITCHING MATCHUP
Samford - - RHP, Cody Shelton, So. (Brentwood, Tenn.) || 5-2 (2.26 ERA)
UNCG - - LHP, Bryce Hensley, Jr. (Asheville, N.C.) || 6-6 (4.52 ERA)
 
SAMFORD'S STARTING PITCHERS THIS SEASON
RHP Erin Baldwin (2-0, 6.88 ERA - - Jr., Lake Charles, Louisiana, LSU Eunice CC)
RHP Mikhail Cazenave (4-7, 4.59 ERA - - Sr., Rainbow City, Alabama, Snead State CC)
RHP Tanner Cunningham (1-0, 3.72 ERA - - Sr., Birmingham, Alabama, Shelton State CC)
RHP Stephen Jones (4-3, 5.30 ERA - - So., Tallahassee, Florida, Chiles HS)
RHP Jesse McCord (3-3, 5.08 ERA - - So., Spanish Fort, Alabama, Mississippi State)
RHP Connor Radcliff (2-2, 6.29 ERA - - So., Birmingham, Alabama, Pelham HS)
RHP Cody Shelton (5-2, 2.26 ERA - - So., Brentwood, Tennessee, Brentwood HS)
LHP Hamp Skinner (1-1, 3.65 ERA - - Fr., Jacksonville, Florida, The Bolles School)
RHP Tristan Widra (1-3, 6.16 ERA - - Jr., Hoover, Alabama, Spain Park HS)
 
SAMFORD'S CAZENAVE NAMED SOCON PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Samford's Cazenave was honored Sunday by being named the SoCon Pitcher of the Week for all games played from May 15-20, it was announced by the league office. He went eight strong innings in a 4-0 win over UNCG on Thursday, limiting the Spartans, who entered the contest with the nation's third-best team batting average, to just two hits and a walk.
 
Cazenave struck out four as Samford won the opener en route to the key series victory. The Rainbow City, Alabama, senior faced just one hitter over the minimum through the first four innings and did not allow a single runner to reach second base in his eight innings. Cazenave retired his final 11 batters in order. The weekly award proved to be the first of his career.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
UNCG (31-21, 14-10 SoCon) finished the regular season as the third-place team in the conference. The Spartans endured a difficult schedule down the stretch as 14 of their last 17 games were away from home. During the aforementioned section, UNCG finished with a 9-8 record, including a 1-2 record on the road at Samford in its final series of the regular season.
 
The Spartans have proven to be dominant at home this season with a 20-9 record, but are only 10-12 when playing on the road. In SoCon action this year, UNCG finished 6-6 when playing away from home.
 
The Spartans enter the SoCon Tournament ranked sixth in the nation with a .324 team batting average. UNCG is also ranked first in the country in triples per game (0.58), No. 2 in total triples (30), No. 18 in scoring (7.4 runs per game), No. 21 in hits (583), and No. 22 in on-base percentage (.393).
 
Individually, Andrew Moritz is ranked fifth in the nation with a .403 batting average. The Spartans' centerfielder recently earned First-Team All-SoCon honors along with third baseman Caleb Webster, who was named the league's freshman of the year. UNCG's Ben Spitznagel and Cesar Trejo both received Second-Team All-SoCon honors Monday.
 
BULLDOGS' RECORD VERSUS UNCG - - THE DUNN ERA
Since Dunn took the reins to the Bulldogs' baseball program in 2004, Samford has compiled a solid 19-9 record against UNCG. Just three days ago, the teams completed their annual regular-season series and the Bulldogs won the first two games, 4-0 and 7-1, to claim the set held in Birmingham, Alabama. The Spartans were able to win the third-and-final contest of the series, 14-7, on Saturday.
 
Last season, Samford and UNCG were also the sixth- and third-seeded teams in the SoCon Tournament, respectively, and met in the first round of the competition. The Bulldogs were able to win last year's matchup, 8-5, in the only meeting between the teams in postseason play.
 
BULLDOGS' ALL-SOCON HONOREES
Six Samford baseball players were honored Monday as the SoCon released its annual postseason accolades. The Bulldogs' Burns, Troy Dixon and Garris were all named Second-Team All-SoCon by either the coaches or the media, while four Samford representatives earned all-freshman honors, setting a conference record.
 
The Bulldogs' Branden Fryman, Garris, Anthony Mulrine and Schafer were all named to the SoCon All-Freshman team by the league's head coaches. The feat occurred for the first time in SoCon history and broke the previous record of three, which was set in 2009.
 
In fact, all six of Samford's honorees will have at least one year of eligibility remaining next season. Burns, who is a junior, proves to be the Bulldogs' elder statesman receiving an award Monday, while Dixon is a sophomore and Fryman, Garris, Mulrine and Schafer are all true freshmen.
 
Burns, Dixon and Garris all earned Second-Team All-SoCon honors. Burns and Dixon were named to the second team by the coaches, while Garris received the accolade from the SoCon Sports Media Association, which consists of the school's Sports Information contacts, TV/radio broadcasters and beat writers.
 
Team - - - - -
#39 | Fewest Hits Allowed Per Nine Innings (8.27)
#49 | Double Plays Turned (48)
#62 | Home Runs (51)
#62 | Double Plays Per Game (0.87)
#63 | Pitching Strikeouts Per Nine Innings (8.4)
#65 | Home Runs Per Game (0.93)
 
Wyatt Burns - - - - -
#17 | Saves (12)
 
Mikhail Cazenave - - - - -
#20 | Games Started (14)
 
T.J. Dixon - - - - -
#35 | Stolen Bases (21)
#52 | Stolen Bases Per Game (0.38)
#74 | Triples (4)
 
Branden Fryman - - - - -
#48 | Sacrifice Bunts (10)
 
Ayrton Schafer - - - - -
#58 | Slugging Percentage (.620)
#73 | Home Runs Per Game (0.26)
 
Cody Shelton - - - - -
#47 | Earned Run Average (2.26)
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
The winner of Wednesday's SoCon Tournament first-round matchup between No. 6 Samford and No. 3 UNCG will remain in the all-important winner's bracket of the tournament.
 
The victor will move on to face either No. 2-seed Western Carolina or No. 7 ETSU at 6:30 p.m. (CT) on Thursday. The losing team will move into the loser's bracket and face the loser of the Western Carolina and ETSU matchup Thursday at 11:30 a.m., in an elimination game.
 
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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Samford Game Notes