The Samford University baseball team will host East Tennessee State University (ETSU) for a three-game Southern Conference series starting Thursday, Apr. 1, at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
This matchup is important as both teams are looking to improve their standings in the conference. Samford enters the series with a record of 13-14 overall and 1-2 in conference play, while ETSU holds a stronger record of 19-7 overall and 4-2 in the Southern Conference.
The two teams have faced each other 39 times previously, with ETSU holding a narrow lead in the all-time series at 20 wins to Samford’s 19. Last season, ETSU won two out of three regular-season games against Samford and defeated them twice more during the SoCon Tournament.
Samford’s pitching rotation for the series is set to include right-handed pitchers Joseph Lee (1-0, 3.51 ERA), Mason Blasche (1-5, 7.09 ERA), and Noah Berry (2-1, 1.96 ERA). On offense, Jake Souders leads Samford with a .404 batting average along with seven home runs and nineteen runs batted in. Trey Higgins and Luke Boykin also share the team lead in home runs with seven each; Boykin leads in RBIs with twenty-eight so far this season.
Senior third baseman Parker McDonald was named Southern Conference Player of the Week after hitting .615 over four games last week, including four doubles, one home run, and four RBIs. The Bulldogs recently secured a decisive win over West Georgia by a score of sixteen to one.
ETSU has listed Stratton Scott (2-1, 4.00 ERA), Tadan Bell (3-2, 4.54 ERA), and Michael Harpster (4-1, 3.19 ERA) as its starting pitchers for this weekend’s games. At bat for ETSU is Henry Ferguson leading with a .387 average while Tristan Curless leads his team both in home runs (11) and RBIs (36).
All three games will be available live on ESPN+, with live statistics provided online through official channels.
