Baseball Opens SoCon Play this Weekend at ETSU

Friday, March 24

Johnson City, TN

4:00 PM

Samford University

ETSU

Photo by: Chase Cochran | Samford Athletics

3.23.23 | Baseball

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford Baseball Team will begin Southern Conference play this weekend with a three-game series at ETSU, beginning with a 4:00 p.m. (CST) contest on Friday, March 24.

The Bulldogs bested North Alabama 12-1 in seven innings at home on March 21, taking advantage of an eight-run first inning to tame the Lions and up their current winning streak to five games.

Freshman infielder Jayden Davis had the hot bad against UNA, going 3-4 with a double, home run, and four runs driven in.

Six Bulldogs combined to toss seven innings in the Bulldogs' win over the Lions, with Jacob Newman (2-1) grabbing the win. Samford's final five arms did not concede a run, with junior two-way player Blake Bortak making his season debut on the mound.

ETSU holds a 14-13 series advantage over Samford. The Bulldogs took the series two games to one last season and have won three of its last four contests against the Bucs.

The Bulldogs are scheduled to start Jacob Cravey in game one, Brody Westbrooks in game two, and Will Lynch in game three this weekend.

Cravey enters the week leading the SoCon in strikeouts (40), strikeouts looking (18), and opponents' batting average (.163). The junior righty is coming off a complete-game victory against UT Martin on March 18 in which he struck out a career-high 13 batters.

Three Bulldogs enter the weekend with 20 or more base hits. Jayden Davis leads the squad with 23 hits while Garrett Howe and Garrett Staton have both knocked 21 and driven in 12 runs.

Junior reliever Ben Petschke leads the SoCon in both saves (4) and relief appearances (11). Petschke is holding opposing hitters to a .234 average and has posted a .3.94 ERA on the year.

ETSU is coming off a 10-6 loss at UNC Asheville on Tuesday. In their most recent weekend series, the Bucs won two of three games at Tennessee Tech March 17-19. ETSU knocked off the Golden Eagles 13-4 in game two after falling 4-3 in the opener and won the rubber match 12-0.

Tommy Barth comes in as the Bucs' leading hitter, ranking seventh in the SoCon with a .369 average, first with 10 doubles, and second with 31 hits.

Nathaniel Tate leads the SoCon with a 1.29 ERA while Colby Stuart ranks fourth (2.14) and Austin Emener fifth (2.57). All three are also holding opposing hitters to under a .200 average, with Tate's mark of .165 leading the team.

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