WCU Baseball: Samford (Weekend Series)

 

Who: Samford Bulldogs
When: Friday, April 19 thru Sunday, April 21, 2024
Time: Friday 5:00 pm; Saturday 2 pm; Sunday 1:00 pm
Where: Childress Field, Cullowhee, NC
TV/video: ESPN+
Live Stats: WCU Live Stats
       -announcer: Daniel Hooker (PxP)
Nickname: Bulldogs
Colors:  Blue and Red

Head Coach: Tony David, a long-time associate head coach at Samford, enters his third season as the program's head coach. David served on the Samford staff for the past 17 seasons, including the last 16 as associate head coach. David also served as the program’s recruiting coordinator from 2005 to 2017.

The Series: The Cats own a 22-30 overall record vs. the Bulldogs, in a series that started in 2009. The Cats are 13-8 in games played in Cullowhee, but only 3-7 in the last ten games played. The Cats went 1-2 in the series in 2023 played in Homewood, with a win that broke a 5 game skid to the Bulldogs.

Current record: 24-12 overall, 18-6 home, 6-6 away, 0-0 neutral, 8-1 SoCon

The Samford was picked as the favorite to win the Southern Conference, and junior pitcher Brooks Rice was tabbed as the league's preseason Pitcher of the Year.  Rice was joined on the first team All-SoCon team by starting pitcher Michael Ross and second baseman John Anderson. Samford's second team All-SoCon representatives were starting pitcher Will Lynch, relief pitcher Jake Holifield, catcher Lucas Steele and outfielder Josh Rodriguez.

As a team last season, Samford finished with a record of 37-25, going 15-6 in Southern Conference play to win the SoCon regular-season championship. The Bulldogs then went on to win the SoCon Tournament title and earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

So far this season, Samford has been led at the plate by John Anderson, batting .419 with 10 doubles, nine home runs and 42 RBI. Garrett Howe is hitting .394 with 10 doubles, five home runs and 27 RBI. Dating back to last season, Howe has currently reached base in 36-on secutive games, the third-longest streak in school history.  As a team, Samford currently leads the Southern Conference in home runs with 55 and ranks third in batting average at .317. Individually, John Anderson ranks second in the SoCon in batting average (.419), while Garrett Howe ranks fifth in the league (.394). Howe also leads the SoCon in walks (32) and ranks second in on-base percentage (.530).