BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford Baseball Team will welcome in the UNCG Spartans for a three-game Southern Conference series this week beginning with a 1:00 p.m. contest on Thursday, April 6.
The Bulldogs (16-13, 5-1 SoCon) came within one run of erasing a seven-run deficit in the top of the ninth inning at North Alabama their last time out on Tuesday evening but ultimately fell 11-10 to the Lions.
John Anderson slugged a grand slam while
Aaron Walton also went yard in the inning as part of the comeback effort.
Samford holds a 27-14 series advantage over UNCG. The Bulldogs lost two of three in the most recent series between the two teams on April 22-24 of the 2022 campaign.
The Bulldogs are scheduled to start
Jacob Cravey in game one,
Brody Westbrooks in game two, and
Will Lynch in game three.
Cravey leads the SoCon in both total strikeouts (55) and batters struck out looking (28) while ranking fourth in opponents' batting average (.222) and fifth in ERA (4.05). Westbrooks ranks 10th in ERA (4.55) and Lynch eighth in opponents' batting average (.256).
Stephen Klein comes in as the Bulldogs' leading hitter with a .381 batting average that ranks sixth in the SoCon. Through six SoCon games, Klein is batting .682 (15-22) with a team-high four home runs and 14 runs scored. The senior first baseman has posted a 1.354 slugging percentage and an on-base clip of .759 for an OPS of 2.123 against conference opponents.
Three different Bulldogs rank in the top 10 in the SoCon in slugging percentage, with Anderson's mark of .667 ranking fifth. Klein sits seventh at .649 while
Lucas Steele ranks ninth at .598. Anderson currently paces the Bulldogs in both home runs (8) and runs batted in (29).
The UNCG Spartans (15-14, 3-3 SoCon) are coming off a 13-4 midweek win over High Point on Tuesday. In their most recent SoCon series., the Spartans dropped two of three games at VMI this past weekend, with their lone win coming in the series final on Sunday (14-8).
Dosi Jonas leads the Spartans and ranks third in the league with 32 runs batted in while also ranking second in the conference with eight home runs. Zack Budzik leads the squad in both batting average (.362) and runs scored (31)
Jake Wolfe ranks third in the SoCon with a 3.59 ERA and has tossed a season-high 42.2 inning for UNCG, with one start in 13 appearances. Jay Miller has worked 40.1 innings on the year and comes in with a 4.69 ERA.
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