CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel baseball team will host the Bulldogs of Samford this weekend for a three-game, Southern Conference series at Joe Riley Park. The series will begin on Friday, April 6 with a 6 p.m. first pitch and will continue on Saturday, April 7 with a 2 p.m. contest. Sunday's series finale will commence at 1 p.m.

WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
The entire weekend, which is sponsored by TD Bank, will be one big "Bark in the Park" and patrons are encouraged to bring their dogs out to all three games of the Battle of the Bulldogs. Patrons who bring their dogs to the games may register for daily giveaways that will include a Citadel Tervis, a Citadel dog bandana and a collapsible dog bowl. The weekend will also feature regular weekend promotions, including First Responder Friday, Service Saturday and Sunday Funday as well as in-game promotions that include Kickin' Chicken Baseball Bingo, the TD Bank Baseball Toss, the Ashley Furniture Best Seats in the Park and more!

Probable Weekend Pitching Matchups
Friday, April 6 – 6 p.m. – Live Stats – Live Video – Audio – Tickets
RHP Dylan Spence (2-2, 2.51 ERA, 46.2 IP) vs. RHP Cody Shelton (0-2, 3.86 ERA, 35 IP)

Saturday, April 7 – 2 p.m. – Live Stats – Live Video – Audio – Tickets
TBD vs. LHP Samuel Strickland (4-0, 1.64 ERA, 33 IP)

Sunday April 8 – 1 p.m. – Live Stats – Live Video – Audio – Tickets
TBD vs. RHP Stephen Jones (2-4, 4.04 ERA, 35.2 IP)

Heading into this weekend, Samford holds a 17-10 record over The Citadel in the series. The Bulldogs from Birmingham have claimed the last two series, including a 2-1 series win last season. In 2017, Samford won the first game 1-0 with The Citadel winning game-two 8-6. Samford claimed the series with a 7-4 victory in the finale. The year before, Samford swept all three games 7-6, 5-4, 11-7. In 2015, The Citadel won the series 2-1 with victories of 6-4 and 13-6 in the first two games before dropping the finale 4-3 in 10 innings.

Samford is currently 16-14 on the season, including 4-2 in Southern Conference play and 6-4 on the road. The Birmingham Bulldogs are riding a five-game winning streak and have won six of their last seven games, including a three-game sweep of Furman in Greenville last weekend. Samford also boasts an early-season victory over then 22nd-ranked UCF on the road back on February 18. As a unit, the Bulldogs are batting .254 with 63 extra-base knocks. Samford has 33 stolen bases on the year. In the field, the Bulldogs have turned 14 double plays compared to 26 by their opponents and have committed 48 errors. The pitching corps boasts a cumulative 3.77 earned run average compared to a 4.25 ERA by opposing pitchers. Samford has two shutouts on the season and Samford pitchers have struck out 292 batters compared to giving up just 120 walks while holding their foes to a .224 batting average.

At the plate, Samford is led by Brooks Carlson's .320 average in 100 at-bats. Carlson is tied for tops on the team in runs scored with 18 and leads the team with nine doubles. Austin Edens and Anthony Mulrine each boast five home runs and Mulrine leads the way with 23 runs batted in on the year. Carlson, Troy Dixon and Branden Fryman have all scored 18 runs with Fryman leading the way with 33 hits and 10 stolen base son the year. Dixon boasts nine swiped bags and has been walked 23 times. Carlson and Dixon both hold above .400 on-base percentages. On the mound, Samford will turn to Cody Shelton for Friday's start, Samuel Strickland on Saturday and Stephen Jones on Sunday. The trio is a combined 6-6 on the season with Strickland entering Saturday with a 4-0 record in 33 innings of work. Strickland also leads the trio with 39 strikeouts compared to just six earned runs given up and six walks and he has held his opposing batters to a .145 batting average. Shelton brings 30 strikeouts in 35 innings of work into Friday's game while Jones has 27 strikeouts in 35.2 frames pitched.

UP NEXT
The Citadel is in the midst of a nine-game homestand and will next welcome South Carolina and College of Charleston to Joe Riley Park for a pair of midweek games. The Bulldogs and Gamecocks will first tangle on Tuesday, April 10 at 7 p.m. The Citadel and in-town rival CofC will then face off at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 11.

For more information on The Citadel baseball team, please follow @CitadelBaseball and @CitadelSports on Twitter or visit CitadelSports.com.