BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford Baseball Team will end a three-week hiatus from play at Joe Lee Griffin Field when they host the Western Carolina Catamounts for a three-game Southern Conference series this weekend, beginning with a 4:00 p.m. contest on Friday.
The Bulldogs (25-20, 10-5 SoCon) bested Jacksonville State 10-6 their last time out on May 3. Lucas Steele and Garrett Howe each drove in three runs while Andrew Bennett knocked four hits.
In its most recent SoCon series last weekend, Samford took game one at VMI 17-7 behind a 9-RBI effort from John Anderson, who slugged two grand slams in the win. Anderson also knocked the game-winning homer in the Bulldogs' 9-7 victory in 11 innings in game two. The series victory helped keep the Bulldogs tied with Furman and Wofford atop the SoCon Regular Season Standings.
The Bulldogs are batting .317 in SoCon play and lead the league with 37 homers and 37 doubles against conference competition while ranking second with a .604 team slugging percentage.
Stephen Klein (1.558), John Anderson (1.387), and Jayden Davis (1.322) all boast an OPS over 1.000 in SoCon play, with Anderson posting nine homers and 29 RBI in league games.
Anderson enjoyed a monster week for Samford last week, belting five home runs, 15 RBI, and batting .444 on the way to being named SoCon Player of the Week and one of Collegiate Baseball's National Players of the Week.
Davis has hit safely in his last 28 games. The freshman infielder sits just one game shy of tying the program's longest hitting streak at 29 games.
Samford leads Western Carolina 28-21 in the series history between the two teams. The Bulldogs knocked off the Catamounts 22-3 in the opening round of the SoCon Championship last season and took two of three at WCU in the regular season.
The Bulldogs are scheduled to start Jacob Cravey in game one, Brody Westbrooks in game two, and Will Lynch in game three. Cravey comes into the week leading the SoCon in strikeouts (86) and strikeouts looking (37) while ranking second with an opponents' batting average of .213.
Western Carolina (17-26, 5-9 SoCon) trounced UNC Asheville 19-7 on May 3 and dropped two of three at ETSU in its most recent SoCon series last weekend.
Nate Stocum(11), Pascanel Ferreras (10), and James Hinson have all slugged double-digit homers while Ferreras leads the team with a .319 average and 44 RBI.
Jonathan Todd has struck out a team-high 33 batters while Nick Torres and Ryan White both pace the squad with three wins each.
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