SAMFORD VS. UAB GAME NOTES

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford baseball team will play host to cross-town rival UAB Tuesday at 2 p.m., and the team will wrap up the regular season with a three-game series at ETSU Thursday and Friday.
 
Samford enters the week with a record of 30-20 overall and 19-8 in Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs won two-of-three games against UNCG over the weekend, winning games one and three by scores of 8-3 and 8-4, and falling in the second game, 11-4.
 
The Blazers are currently 18-35 overall and 11-21 in Conference USA. UAB split a four-game series at Marshall this weekend. ETSU is currently 22-24 overall and 11-15 in SoCon play. The Bucs dropped two-of-three games at VMI last weekend.
 
THE RUN DOWN--UAB
Opponent: vs. UAB (18-35, 11-21 C-USA)
Dates: May 18, 2021
Site: Birmingham, Ala. (Joe Lee Griffin Field)
Time: 2 p.m. CT
Live Stats: Click Here
ESPN+: Click Here

SERIES HISTORY

• Samford and UAB have met 89 previous times, with UAB holding a 58-31 series lead.
• The teams met earlier this season at Regions Field. In that earlier meeting, Samford earned a 5-1 win in 10 innings.

 
THE RUN DOWN--ETSU
Opponent: at ETSU (22-24, 11-15 SoCon)
Dates: May 20-21, 2021
Site: Johnson City, Tenn.
Time: 4 p.m. CT (Thur.)/12 p.m. CT (Fri.—DH)
Live Stats/Broadcast: Click Here

SERIES HISTORY

• Samford and ETSU have played 21 times, with ETSU holding an 11-10 series lead.
• The teams met in three-game series earlier this season at Joe Lee Griffin Field, with Samford winning two-of-three games. The Bulldogs won the first two games, 7-3 and 10-2, before falling in the series finale, 5-1.

 
FOCAL POINT

• The Bulldogs are still in the hunt for a SoCon regular-season title, needing to sweep ETSU this weekend and hope Wofford and Mercer go two-of-three either way, to finish first.  

 
BULLDOGS TO WATCH

• Samford's probable starting pitcher for Tuesday afternoon's game is left-handed senior Hamp Skinner. So far this season, Skinner has a record of 3-2 and an ERA of 6.32. 
• Center fielder Max Pinto has had more multi-hit games than anyone on the team so far this season. Entering this week, he has had 18 multi-hit games, including 12 with two hits, five with three hits and one with four hits.
• Samford first baseman Sonny DiChiara currently ranks tied for eighth in the nation in walks with 44 so far this season. He also ranks 20th in the country in walks per game at 0.92, and is tied for 36th nationally in home runs with 13. He leads the SoCon in all three categories.
• Samford's Tyler McManus currently leads the team in batting average (.322) and RBI (45), and he is tied for the team lead in doubles (10) and is tied for second on the squad in home runs (10). McManus also leads the squad in multi-RBI games with 13.
• Samford second baseman Brooks Carlson enters this week having reached base in 14-straight games. He has at least one hit in 13 of those 14 games, and he drew a walk in the other contest.

 
NEWS & NOTES

• Samford has a record of 19-6 in home games so far this season. Sonny DiChiara is hitting .329 in home contests with four doubles, eight home runs and 22 RBI. Will David is batting .308 at home while Towns King is hitting .306 and Brooks Carlson is hitting .302 at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
• Samford and UAB met earlier this season on March 23 at Regions Field. In that earlier meeting, Samford came away with a 5-1 win in 10 innings. In the win for Samford, Tyler McManus and Towns King drove in two runs each. Carson Cupo earned the win on the mound for Samford, and Chase Isbell picked up the save.
• Samford has a record of 23-3 when its opponents score five runs or less. If the opponent scored six or more runs, the team has a mark of 7-17.
• With the series win last weekend, Samford reached 30 wins for the 13^th time in Casey Dunn's 17 seasons as head coach. Dunn is Samford's winningest coach in any sport with a career record of 528-418.

 
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS:
For the latest news and information on Samford baseball, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordBaseball (Facebook), @SamfordBaseball (Instagram) and @SamfordBaseball (Twitter).