STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Samford baseball team will take on the Campbell Camels in an elimination game at the NCAA Starkville Regional Saturday at 2 p.m. at Dudy Noble Field/Polk-Dement Stadium.
 
The game will appear on ESPN3 with Roy Philpott (PxP) and Jay Walker (Analyst) on the call, while in-game social media updates will also be available on Twitter (@SamfordBaseball). Fans can follow the action at the following links: ESPN3, Live Stats.
 
Samford enters the game with a record of 35-23. The Bulldogs opened the regional against the No. 7 national seed and host Mississippi State Friday afternoon. Despite belting three home runs, Samford fell to Mississippi State by a score of 8-4.
 
Campbell, an at-large team from the Big South Conference, is currently 35-17 on the season. The Camels took on the VCU Rams Friday evening, with VCU taking a 19-4 victory.
 
Samford and Campbell have met 18 previous times, with Campbell holding an 11-7 advantage in the series. The teams were co-members of the Atlantic Sun Conference from 1995 through 2003. The programs have not met since Samford left the A-Sun for the Ohio Valley Conference following the 2003 season.
 
Samford has an all-time record of 3-5 in NCAA Tournament games. The Bulldogs previously played in an NCAA Regional in 2012 and again in 2018. Samford has played the following teams in NCAA Regionals: Florida State (1-2), Mississippi State (2-2) and Oklahoma (0-1).
 
Samford's starting pitcher for Saturday's game will be right-handed pitcher Zach Hester. So far this season, Hester has a record of 2-3 and a 5.82 ERA.  
 
Samford's Tyler McManus currently leads the team in batting average (.339) and RBI (52), and he is tied for the team lead in doubles (13) and is tied for second on the squad in home runs (11). McManus also leads the squad in multi-RBI games with 15.
 
Second baseman Brooks Carlson has been on a hot streak over the last 22 games. In that stretch, Carlson is hitting .407 (37-of-91) with nine doubles, one triple, six home runs and 27 RBI.

Samford first baseman Sonny DiChiara has connected on 16 home runs this season, ranking 23rd nationally. The Hoover, Ala., native, also ranks 12th in the nation in walks with 47 and 36th in walks per game (0.85).