Game 1:  Friday, April 13  |  5:00 PM (CT)  |  Video  |  Live Stats
Game 2:  Saturday, April 14  |  10:00 AM (CT)  |  Video  |  Live Stats
Game 3:  Sunday, April 15  |  1:00 PM (CT)  |  Video  |  Live Stats

Tickets  |  Game Notes  |  SoCon Notes

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The red-hot Samford University baseball team will square off against the Mercer Bears this weekend as the Bulldogs host a pivotal three-game Southern Conference series featuring two of the league's top three teams right here at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
The highly-anticipated series will start Friday at 5 p.m. (CT), while Saturday's game is currently scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. The teams are also expected to meet in the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m., here on the campus of Samford University.
 
Samford (20-14, 7-2 SoCon) enters the weekend with a full head of steam after knocking off No. 21-ranked Auburn on Tuesday, 12-3. With their lopsided victory, the Bulldogs extended their winning streak to nine consecutive games by blasting four home runs and accumulating 18 hits in the demonstrative home triumph.
 
Samford, which has defeated two top-25 ranked opponents this season, jumped all over Auburn and led 8-2 following the fourth inning of action. A total of 10 Bulldogs earned base hits in the game, while eight Samford players registered at least two hits.
 
Since March 25, the Bulldogs have reeled off nine straight victories and have outscored their opponents by a total of 74-22.
 
Samford's Wyatt Burns, who is the team's closer and the SoCon's active career leader in saves with 24, made the first start of his career Tuesday and picked up the victory. He didn't allow a single hit in two innings of action and struck out a pair of Tigers, while lowering his team-best ERA on the season to a jaw-dropping 1.16.
 
The Bulldogs' Ayrton Schafer, Ryan Crockett, Austin Edens and Max Pinto all homered against Auburn. Schafer's second-inning blast cleared the batter's eye in center field, while Pinto's line drive nearly ripped a hole in it in the eighth frame.
 
SAMFORD AGAINST TOP-25 RANKED TEAMS
Earlier this year, Samford also defeated a top-25 team as the Bulldogs rallied past No. 22 UCF on the road, 5-4, on Feb. 18. This year marks the first time Samford has defeated two top-25 opponents in a single season since the Bulldogs defeated four ranked teams (No. 3 Florida, No. 17 Mississippi State, twice, No. 23 Auburn and No. 24 Oklahoma) in the 2012 campaign. That season, Samford won the SoCon Tournament and competed in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, nearly winning the Tallahassee Regional, which was hosted by No. 3-ranked Florida State.
 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
1)  Samford has won nine straight games, dating back to March 27.
2)  The Bulldogs' winning streak is their longest since 2015 when they put together a similar nine-game stretch from April 10-24, where they defeated Murray State, Troy, ETSU, Alabama State and Wofford.
3)  Samford is in the midst of a six-game SoCon winning streak, which is its longest since 2012 when the Bulldogs won eight straight conference games against Western Carolina, Davidson and Georgia Southern.
4)  Since March 24, Samford is outscoring its opponents by a total of 91-26.
5)  Additionally, since March 24, the Bulldogs are out-hitting their opponents, 134-74, including a 12-2 advantage in home runs.
6)  Samford has defeated two nationally-ranked opponents this season in No. 21 Auburn and No. 22 UCF. The Bulldogs defeated Auburn, 12-3, on Tuesday, and topped UCF on the road in Orlando, Florida, 5-4, on Feb. 18.
7)  This marks the first time that Samford has registered two top-25 wins since 2012.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Mercer (26-9, 6-3 SoCon) has been defeated in three of its last four games and is coming off a 16-8 road loss at Georgia Tech on Tuesday. Despite their recent setbacks, the Bears are one of only seven teams nationally with 26 wins or more. Mercer joins Florida, Duke, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, NC State and Tennessee Tech.
 
Additionally, the Bears have won 29 of 35 weekend series dating back to 2015, and Mercer is one of three teams nationally with 13 players to have hit at least one home run this season (Tennessee Tech, 15; Elon, 13).
 
The Bears' Trey Truitt is one of four players nationally with 50-plus hits and 40-plus runs scored. Mercer's native of Dothan is also one of three players nationally with 10-plus home runs and 10-plus stolen bases (Seth Lancaster, UNCW; Bren Spillane, Illinois). Robert Broom is one of seven players tied for the national lead in wins (7), while Austin Cox ranks third in strikeouts per nine innings (14.84).
 
SAMFORD vs. MERCER - - THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The Bulldogs will be squaring off against Mercer for the 72^nd time in school history Friday. The Bears currently hold a 41-30 all-time advantage in the series, but Samford proved to be triumphant in the last meeting, a 5-4 victory, which knocked Mercer out of the 2017 SoCon Tournament. The Bears swept Samford in the regular-season series last year held in Macon, Georgia, while the Bulldogs claimed the season series in 2016, two games to one, at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
THIS WEEKEND'S PITCHING MATCHUPS
 
SAMFORD'S STARTING ROTATION
Friday - - RHP, Cody Shelton, Sr. (Brentwood, Tennessee) - - 1-2 (3.48 ERA)
Saturday - - LHP, Samuel Strickland, Fr. (Birmingham, Alabama) - - 5-0 (1.35 ERA)
Sunday - - RHP, Stephen Jones, Jr. (Tallahassee, Florida) - - 3-4 (3.98 ERA)
 
MERCER'S STARTING ROTATION
Friday - - LHP, Austin Cox, Jr. (Forsyth, Georgia) - - 6-0 (4.74 ERA)
Saturday - - RHP, Chase Burks, Sr. (Marietta, Georgia) - - 4-2 (5.66 ERA)
Sunday - - TBA
 
EDENS IN THE RECORD BOOK
Samford's Austin Edens, who is the school's all-time home run leader with 50 round-trippers, is already one of the most decorated players in school history. He is currently ranked among the top five hitters in a number of statistical categories, including home runs, RBI, total bases and doubles.
 
ALL-TIME HOME RUNS
1. Austin Edens (2015 - current), 50
2. Heath Quinn (2014-16), 44
 
ALL-TIME RUNS BATTED IN
1. Heath Quinn (2014-16), 181
2. Austin Edens (2015 - current), 177
 
ALL-TIME TOTAL BASES
1. Austin Edens (2015 - current), 441
2. Heath Quinn (2014-16), 425
 
ALL-TIME DOUBLES
1. Bear Burnett (2005-08), 52
2. Heath Quinn (2014-16), 48
3. Phillip Ervin (2011-13), 47
4. Hunter Swilling (2014-16), 46
5. Austin Edens (2015 - current), 45
 
EDENS LEADS NCAA IN ACTIVE CAREER HOME RUNS
 
RANK, PLAYER, CL, POS, GAMES, HR
1. Austin Edens, Samford, Sr., 1B, 203, 50
2. Jesus Santana, Jackson State, Sr., INF, 197, 47
3. JJ Schwarz, Florida, Sr., C, 242, 45
4. Seth Beer, Clemson, Jr., UT, 158, 44
5. Trey Truitt, Mercer, Sr., OF, 199, 41
6. Chase Chambers, Tennessee Tech, Sr., 1B, 189, 40
7. Kevin Strohschein, Tennessee Tech, Jr., OF, 147, 38
     Collin Fleischer, VMI, Sr., 1B, 172, 38
     Gabe Snyder, Wichita State, Sr., 1B, 211, 38
10. Jeremy Eierman, Missouri State, Jr., INF, 152, 37
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following this weekend's key SoCon homestand against Mercer, the Samford University baseball team will next be in action Tuesday at 6 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs travel to Tuscaloosa for a midweek matchup against the Alabama Crimson Tide to be held at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
 
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, April 13  |  5:00 PM (CT)  |  Video  |  Live Stats
Game 2:  Saturday, April 14  |  10:00 AM (CT)  |  Video  |  Live Stats
Game 3:  Sunday, April 15  |  1:00 PM (CT)  |  Video  |  Live Stats

Tickets  |  Game Notes  |  SoCon Notes