GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) baseball team wraps up The Southern Conference (SoCon) portion of its schedule against the Samford Bulldogs on Friday, May 10 to Sunday, May 12 at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
 
The Spartans are currently 29-17 and stand at second in the SoCon with a conference record of 13-5 with just three games left this weekend. The Bulldogs enter the weekend with an overall mark of 32-16 and 12-3 conference record with six games left to play in the SoCon.
 
UNCG can earn its third regular season title outright this weekend by sweeping Samford. However, if the Spartans don't sweep, they can still win the title or at least a share of it depending on how East Tennessee State University (12-6 in SoCon) and Samford fare in each of their series against Wofford during the final two weeks.

With every scenario around the SoCon considered, the Spartans could finish as high as first or as low as fifth in the standings.
 

Game One vs. Samford When: Friday, May 10 | 6:00 p.m.   Where: UNCG Baseball Stadium | Greensboro, N.C. Live Stats | ESPN+   First 100 fans get a FREE clear UNCG cross-body bag!

Game Two vs. Samford When: Saturday, May 11 | 2:00 p.m.   Where: UNCG Baseball Stadium | Greensboro, N.C. Live Stats | ESPN+   First 100 fans get a FREE rally towel!

Game Three vs. Samford When: Sunday, May 12 | 1:00 p.m.   Where: UNCG Baseball Stadium | Greensboro, N.C. Live Stats | ESPN+

 
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE SPARTANS

• UNCG is coming off a 15-9 loss at Coastal Carolina on the road Tuesday night. Prior to that, the Spartans had a season-high nine-game winning streak. They have 13 wins in their last 16 games.
• Last weekend saw the Spartans sweep their second straight SoCon series, defeating The Citadel in Charleston 6-2 on Friday, 8-5 in 11 innings on Saturday and 4-1 in Sunday's finale.
• Caleb Cozart paced UNCG with a .375 batting average (6-for-16) over the last week. He clubbed a pair of home runs in the last game at Coastal Carolina to post five RBI for the week.
• Jake Ogden was instrumental in the Spartans' sweep over The Citadel. He hit three home runs in the series, including two in Saturday's game that went to extra innings.
• Hunter Shuey pitched eight innings with one run against and four strikeouts to improve to 6-0 on Friday at The Citadel.
• Rob Ready dealt 6.1 innings with two runs (one earned) against and six strikeouts on Saturday to push his record to 3-1.
• Julien Peissel is now 2-2 on the season after pitching six innings with just one run allowed in Sunday's finale.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS

• In April, UNCG totaled 154 runs while only allowing 86. The Spartans scored 10 or more runs in eight of their 16 games last month.
• As a team, UNCG is ranked top-30 nationally in three categories, including 13th in triples (18), 29th in sacrifice bunts (34) and 29th in stolen bases (87).
• Cozart paces the SoCon and ranks among the best in the country in several offensive categories, including home runs (22, 10th in NCAA), HR per game (0.49, 10th in NCAA), RBI (71, 5th in NCAA), RBI per game (1.58, 4th in NCAA) and slugging percentage (.838, 10th in NCAA).
• Cozart was named the SoCon Player of the Week for the second time this season on April 29 after batting 6-for-9 (.667) in four games and hitting three home runs on, which included the first one that broke UNCG's single-season record for homers on April 24 vs. High Point. He was previously named the SoCon and Perfect Game Player of the Week after hitting four home runs in the season-opening series against Fairfield (Feb. 16-18).
• Aidan Brewer was named to the 2024 Brooks Wallace Award Watch List on April 29, a list of the country's top 100 all-around shortstops.
• Ready was named the SoCon Pitcher of the Week after the team's SoCon opening series win against Mercer (March 22-24) when he threw for a complete game with a career-high nine strikeouts in game two against the Bears. He ranks 20th in the nation and is tied for the top spot in the SoCon with 12 starts so far this season.
• Peissel was selected as the SoCon Pitcher of the Week after starting on the mound in UNCG's win over No. 1 Wake Forest (Feb. 20). Peissel is leading the team with 48 strikeouts.
• UNCG was tabbed to finish sixth in the 2024 SoCon Preseason Coaches' Poll after finishing the 2023 season with a 25-34 overall record and a 9-12 mark in SoCon play.
• Ready was named to the Preseason All-SoCon Second Team.
• UNCG concluded last season in the semifinal round of the SoCon Tournament, falling to No. 1 Samford, 9-5.
• The Spartans have 22 newcomers for the 2024 season: 10 transfers and 12 freshmen.
• Eighteen Spartans have returned from last season for UNCG. 

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS

• Samford is 32-16 overall and sitting at first place in the SoCon standings with a 12-3 league record.
• The Bulldogs are coming off a 12-3 win over North Alabama on Tuesday night in Birmingham. Before that, Samford took two out of three from Mercer in a SoCon series last weekend, winning 9-1 on Friday, losing 20-15 on Saturday and prevailing 12-5 on Sunday.
• Samford ranks in the top-30 nationally in several categories, including ninth in sacrifice flies (31), 10th for runs (436) and hits (509), 14th in scoring (9.1) and slugging percentage (.543), 15th in batting average (.315) and 20th in on-base percentage (.423).
• Pacing the Bulldogs offensively is Garrett Howe, batting .389 with 15 doubles, eight home runs and 42 RBI.
• In terms of pitching, Ross leads the league in ERA (2.54), wins (10) and fewest runs allowed (22).
• Samford was voted to top the 2024 SoCon Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Brooks Rice was selected as the SoCon's Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Rice (SP), Ross (SP) and John Anderson (2B) were voted to the Preseason All-SoCon First Team while Will Lynch (SP), Jake Holifield (RP), Lucas Steele (C) and Josh Rodriguez (OF) were named to the second team.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BULLDOGS
UNCG is 18-31 in the all-time series against Samford. The Spartans won one of three meetings in the regular season last year before being eliminated by the Bulldogs during the 2023 SoCon Postseason Tournament.

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UP NEXT
After taking on Samford, the Spartans will host a midweek non-conference game against North Carolina A&T at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.

Fans are encouraged to bring their dogs for Bark in the Park Night!