April 21, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team will take on two in-state rivals in midweek games this week. The Bulldogs will play at Auburn Tuesday night, and they will play host to UAB Wednesday evening. Both games are scheduled for 6 p.m. starts.

Samford enters the week with a record of 23-14 after dropping two of three games at Southeast Missouri over the weekend. The Bulldogs have won 16-straight home games, the longest home winning streak in the nation. Auburn is now 23-18 overall after falling in two of three games at Vanderbilt last weekend. UAB comes into the week with a record of 17-22 after winning two of three against Houston over the weekend.

Samford is led statistically by Michael Marseco, batting .407 with nine doubles and 35 RBI. Marseco enters the week on a career-long 22-game hitting streak. Michael Rutledge is batting .368 with a team-high 38 RBI. David Knapp (3-1, 2.73 ERA) is scheduled to start Tuesday night's game on the mound for Samford, while Andrew Jones (3-1, 6.00 ERA) will start the game on Wednesday for Samford.

Auburn is led at the plate by Hunter Morris with a .362 batting average, 10 home runs and 40 RBI. Auburn will start Paul Burnside (0-0, 11.57 ERA) on the mound Tuesday night.

For UAB at the plate, Ryan Keedy leads the team with a .420 batting average with 35 RBI. Phil Bell is batting .327 with a team-high 45 RBI.

Earlier this season, Samford fell to Auburn, 14-6 at Regions Park on Mar. 26. The Bulldogs also dropped a 10-6 decision at UAB on April 9.

Tuesday night's game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/groups/wvsu/. Fans can follow all three games on the internet via GameTracker at the links below.

GameTracker For Tuesday

GameTracker For Wednesday