GREENSBORO, N.C.  – UNCG baseball continues its search for a spot in the postseason this weekend, facing top-of-the-division Samford in a three-game series in Birmingham. The Spartans wil be playing a Friday doubleheader for just the second time this season, before finishing their road schedule in a Saturday finale against the Bulldogs. 

At 10-14 in SoCon play this year, UNCG is in a chase to take the final spot in this year's conference tournament, sitting back of Western Carolina (10-9) for the No. 4 spot in the bracket. After the Spartans play in Birmingham they will finish their regular season with three games against VMI (9-15), while the Catamounts play series against Wofford (17-7) and The Citadel (3-20) to close out the year. Assuming all games are played as scheduled, the Spartans would need roughly three more winning decisions than WCU in the final six games of the season to hop the Catamounts in the standings.

They'll be accompanied by VMI and ETSU (10-13) for the final spot in the postseason. 

Games 1 & 2
Who: Samford
Where: Joe Lee Griffin Field | Birmingham, Ala.
When: Friday, May 14 | 3:00 p.m. (DH)
Probables G1: UNCG; RHP Austin Koehn (4-2, 5.07) v Sam; LHP Sam Strickland (4-2, 4.90)
Gm 1: Watch | Live Stats
Probables G2: UNCG; RHP Brendan Collins (3-3, 6.02) v Sam; RHP Jalen Long (2-2, 6.51)
Gm 2: Watch | Live Stats

Game 3
Who: Samford
Where: Joe Lee Griffin Field | Birmingham, Ala.
When: Saturday, May 15 | 2:00 p.m. 
Probables: UNCG; RHP Alex Hoppe (1-3, 5.61) v Sam; RHP Zach Hester (2-3, 4.95)
Watch | Live Stats

HOW'S THEIR FORM?
-- UNCG has won 10 of its last 12 games since April 20th, most recently defeating its third ACC team of the season with a 3-2 victory at North Carolina. The Spartans are on a streak of three straight SoCon series wins, looking for their fourth against the Bulldogs this weekend
-- Samford is on a four-game winning streak after sweeping VMI and earning a 6-1 win against Auburn on Wednesday. Prior to their recent run of play however, the Bulldogs lost three straight conference series, with Wofford, Mercer and Western Carolina each taking two of three from the side

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
-- Greg Hardison has been a big part of the Spartans' success over the past three-plus weeks, hitting in all but three of UNCG's past dozen contests. The left fielder has gone 19-for-46 (.413) in that span while driving in 19 runs. He is now up to 22 RBI in SoCon play in 2021, tied for fourth best in the conference
-- Corey Rosier added his fourth triple of the season against ETSU last weekend to place himself top in the conference. While his four three-baggers are still well shy of national leader Nathan Church of UC Irvine (8), he still ranks 16th in the country for that category, while his 52 runs scored are ninth, his 66 hits are 13th and his 113 total bases are 21st
-- Right hander Brandon Stephens made his fourth consecutive shutout appearance against UNC on Tuesday, going without a run against over his past 4.2 innings of work. Stephens has surrendered just five earned runs since March 16th, for an ERA of 2.45 over 18.1 IP and 13 appearances during that span. He leads the Spartans with a 3.08 ERA on the season
-- Making 17 appearances with 51.0 IP and a 7-2 record, Austin Parsley has walked just seven batters all season. His seven walks are tied for a SoCon best in 2021, while his 7.43 K/BB ratio is 20th in the country

SCOUTING SAMFORD
-- Only 16 teams in Division I baseball have scored more runs than the Bulldogs this season (337), while their 442 hits are 28th in the nation. Samford is led offensively by Tyler McManus, who has a team best average of .340 and a SoCon-high 45 runs driven in. He also has a .624 slugging percentage that ranks third in the conference 
-- The Samford pitching staff has become a strikeout specialist in 2021, with the side's 9.6 K/9 ranking at the top of the conference. Starter Jesse McCord leads the Bulldogs with 69 strikeouts on the year, but is not scheduled to make a weekend start for the first time this season

SERIES HISTORY
-- UNCG holds a 13-25 record against the Bulldogs all-time. The pair have traded sweeps over their last three meetings with Samford winning three against UNCG in 2021 and 2019, and the Spartans taking all three in 2018
-- The hosting team had won each of the past three series between the Bulldogs and Spartans before Samford defeated UNCG to start this year's SoCon schedule

#letsgoG