FLORENCE, Ala. (March 4, 2024) – The University of North Alabama baseball team is set to host a pair of midweek games against Samford on Tuesday, March 5 and Murray State on Wednesday, March 6 at Mike D. Lane Field. The Lions are in the midst of an eight games in 10 days stretch — all at home. 


Samford at North Alabama
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
4:00 p.m.
ESPN+ | Live Stats | Tickets 

Murray State at North Alabama
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
4:00 p.m.
ESPN+ | Live Stats | Tickets 


NOTES
Weekend Recap: UNA hosted in-state foe UAB for the first time since 1985. The Lions took game one in dramatic fashion, thanks to a walk-off home run from Andrew Knight. The UAB offense helped power the Blazers to a series victory, however, putting up 18 runs in the next two games. 

Mr. 200: Jacob James punched out nine batters in Saturday's game against UAB in which he secured his 200th career strikeout. James is just one of five players in North Alabama program history to strike out 200 batters with the team. He is now just three strikeouts shy of tying Trey Mitchell for third most strikeouts in program history with 207.

Knight Knight: UNA outfielder Andrew Knight ended the series opener with UAB in dramatic fashion on March 2. After UAB tied the game with a six run ninth inning, Knight led off the home half with a walk-off solo home run to left field.  This is the first walk-off home run by UNA since April 2, 2017 when Brandt Holland hit a pinch hit 3-run homer to down UAH, 8-7. 

Steady Improvements: Through 11 games this season, North Alabama pitchers have struck out 106 batters, while only walking 59 for a 1.79 K/BB ratio. Last season UNA had just 83 strikeouts to 76 walks in the first 11 games of the year for a K/BB ratio of 1.09. The Lions are averaging nearly 10 strikeouts a game so far this season.

Swing for the Fences: After not hitting a home run in the first four games of the season, the North Alabama offense has hit at least one home run in six of the last seven games, including 10 across that span. UNA hit three home runs in Saturday's game one victory over UAB.

Scouting the Bulldogs: Samford travels to Florence boasting an 8-4 record, which includes series sweeps over fellow ASUN schools Queens and Bellarmine. The Bulldogs are led by head coach Tony David who is in his third season as the head coach of the program.
 
Samford Series History: UNA has a 12-3 all time edge over the Bulldogs with Samford holding a 2-1 advantage on games played since UNA made the move to Division I. The most recent game between the two resulted in a 11-10 UNA victory in Florence last season.
 
Scouting the Racers: Murray State enters the midweek slate with a record of 6-5. The Racers are led by head coach Dan Skirka who is in his sixth season at the helm of the program. Murray State defeated UNA in a midweek game earlier this season in Murray, Ky.
 
Murray State Series History: The two schools have met eight times before in program history, with six of those meetings coming since UNA's move to Division I in 2018. Murray State leads the all-time series, 7-1. Murray State knocked off UNA in Murray, Ky. 8-1 last week in the first meeting between the two this season.
 
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