The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Baseball Set For Midweek Games Vs. Samford
4/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
UAB (23-18, 10-11 C-USA) vs. Samford (23-19, 10-5 SoCon)
Details: Regions Field | Tuesday, April 28 -- 6:30 p.m.
Joe Lee Griffin Field | Wednesday, April 29 -- 6 p.m.
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Radio: 1070 WAPI-AM | Talent: David Crane
Live Stats: Tuesday | Wednesday
Live Video: Tuesday | Wednesday
Game Notes: UAB | Samford
Probable Starting Pitchers:
Tuesday -- LHP Stephen Baggett (0-1, 5.14) vs. RHP Cole Limbaugh (1-1, 10.59)
Wednesday -- TBA vs. RHP Tristan Widra (0-1, 5.97)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB baseball team will face Samford twice in the next two days, first at Regions Field at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night, before making the trip across town to Joe Lee Griffin Field Wednesday night for a 6 p.m. matchup.
Wednesday's game is a makeup date from earlier in the year. That contest was originally scheduled for March 3, but inclement weather forced the midweek to be moved to this week.
Live stats and live video will be available for both games. Information to that can be accessed at UABSports.com or in the links above.
Leading Off
- UAB stays in Birmingham for its two midweek matchups, with two contests vs. crosstown rival Samford.
- The Blazers and Bulldogs will face-off at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night at Regions Field in City of Birmingham Night, and the two teams will meet in the final meeting of 2015 Wednesday night at 6 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field in a makeup from March 3.
- UAB hasn't played a game at Regions Field in nearly a month, as the March 31 meeting vs. Alabama was the last contest for the Green and Gold at Regions.
- The Blazers are coming off a C-USA weekend vs. Charlotte, where the 49ers swept UAB with a 6-0 win Friday night, a close 5-4 decision Saturday, and 3-1, 12-inning affair Sunday.
- Right fielder Griffin Gum has been hot as of late, with a .400 batting average in the last 10 games. He has six RBI, three stolen bases, two doubles, 16 hits, eight runs and a home run over that span.
- RHP/DH Adam Lau was named to the 2015 John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year watch list last week, an award given annually to the nation's top player both on the mound and at the plate. He is one of 36 players nationwide to earn the honor.
- UAB turns 1.05 double plays per game, which ranks No. 15 in the NCAA, and the Blazers are 23rd overall with 43 double plays. UAB is also second in C-USA with a .941 fielding percentage.
- Freshman LHP Stephen Baggett (0-1, 5.14) will be making his first start as a Blazer in Tuesday night's game.
- This week's two midweek tilts mark the first true Tuesday-Wednesday games of the season, as dates earlier in the year were postponed due to inclement weather.
Series History
UAB and Samford will meet for the 80th time on Tuesday. The two teams first met in 1983 as UAB leads the all-time series, 54-25, entering this week's home-and-home.
The two squads split the two meetings last year, as Samford handed UAB its first loss of the 2014 season in a 13-5 defeat, before UAB got one back from the Bulldogs, 4-3, in a 13-inning walk-off to snap Samford's nine-game winning streak between the two Birmingham schools.
Scouting The Opponent
Samford enters the midweek contests with a near identical record to the Blazers, 23-19. The Bulldogs are 10-5 in the Southern Conference, 10-9 in games away from Joe Lee Griffin Field and 13-8 in home contests thus far.
The Bulldogs are a club that has ranked No. 1 in the NCAA in home runs in each of the last two years. Their 60 long balls thus far ranks first, as they average 1.43 per game. Last season they hit 53 total, which led the nation. Samford also finished top-15 in the three previous years, clubbing at least 53 home runs each year dating back to 2012.
Hunter Swilling, the Bulldogs' leader in RBI with 49, leads the team with 13 home runs, and the club's leading hitter, Austin Edens, has 12 long balls. T.J. Dixon is a perfect 16-for-16 in stolen bases, a squad that is 39-of-51 overall on the base paths.
Samford's team ERA sits at 5.08 entering the home-and-home series, with a .280 batting average against. Cole Limbaugh is Tuesday's expected starter, a RHP with a 10.59 ERA and 1-1 record in four starts this year. He's allowed 20 earned runs in 17.0 IP, struck out 12 and walked 10. RHP Tristan Widra will start Wednesday, a freshman from Hoover, who has a 5.97 ERA with a 0-1 record in four starts.
Gameday Promotions
Join UAB and the City of Birmingham for a local rivalry game Tuesday night at Regions Field, as UAB athletics hosts City of Birmingham Night. For more information on Tuesday night's activities, click here.
Looking Ahead
UAB stays home this weekend to host nationally ranked Florida Atlantic at Young Memorial Field for three C-USA games.
For more information on the UAB baseball team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_Baseball). For more on all Blazer sports teams follow the official Twitter account of UAB Athletics (@UABAthletics).
