Bobcats Defeats Bearkats 5-1
Sam Houston State Bearkat softball team’s quest for a share of the Southland Conference regular season title came to an end as Texas State Bobcats won the first game of the series by the score of 5-1.
The win gave the Bobcats (34-15, 17-2 SLC) sole possession of the crown and the #1 seed in the Southland Conference Post-season tournament that will be held in San Antonio from May 10-12.
What is more impressive is the Bearkats (26-18, 14-5 SLC) were picked to finished eighth in the SLC before the season began.
Now they will finish the season in second place in the conference despite the loss and will be the No. 2 seed when tournament action begins.
It seemed as if it was going to be a pitching duel between Tomi Garrison and Chandler Hall as both started out strong in the first inning.
Garrison retired the side in the top of the first innings with two strike outs.
Hall followed suit and up her with three consecutive strike outs in the bottom of the first inning.
However, the second inning proved to be different as Texas State exploded for four runs that made it 4-0.
Anna Hernandez started the inning with a single and advanced to third on a error by third baseman Shelbi Tucker that allowed Chandler Hall to reach first.
Courtney Harris followed with a two-run double to left field that made it 2-0.
Shelby Carnline hit an RBI double to center field that scored Hall from second base to made it 3-0.
Their fourth run came on a sacrifice fly by Jordan Masek.
The Bobcats added a run in the top of the fifth inning when pinch runner Brittney Garcia scored from third on a double steal that made it 5-0.
The Bearkats scored their only run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Adams to cut the lead to 5-1.
Kim Damian led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third on a double by Sarah Allison.
She scored on Adams sacrifice fly.
The Bearkats couldn’t muster anything after the fourth inning as Hall worked through the final three innings to get her 20th win of the season. She finished the game with 12 strike outs.
Garrison was tacked with the loss.
The rubber match of the series will be at 1 p.m tomorrow to end the 2012 regular season.
The Balancing Act of Being A Reporter And A Public Relations Practioner
by Cheval John
A reporter’s job is to be as objective as possible and to get as much information as possible to release to the general public.
On the other hand, a public relations practioners job is to promote an entity and showcase what they’re brought to a community.
Trying to balance both professions at the same time is a huge challenge, but one worth attempting.
As a freelance reporter for The Huntsville Item and Vallano Media, LLC, I’ve had the opportunity to cover Sam Houston State Bearkat sporting events and interviewed important people ranging from the mayor of Frisco, Texas to Nashville Songwriter Hall of Famer, Allen Shamblin.
Also, as a member of Priority One Public Relations, a student-run public relations firm on the campus of Sam Houston State University, we have created communications plan for clients on the campus and produced events featuring media personalities from Dan Rather to Hall-of-Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan.
In conclusion, it is not easy at times, but in the end, it is worth it.
No. 9 Aggies defeats No.21 Kats 10-0
The No. 21 Sam Houston State Bearkat baseball team was looking for a statement win that would allowed them to get an at-large bid into the NCAA baseball tournament two months away from today.
They had that chance when they played host to No. 9 Texas A&M Aggies in front of a crowd of 2,036 at Don Sanders Staduim on Tuesday night.
Unfortunately, that would not happened as the Aggies defeated the Kats by the score of 10-0.
The Bearkats are now 31-14 for the season while the Aggies improved their record to 32-13.
Starting pitcher Michael Oros kept the Aggies hitters off balance with his change up and fastball during the first two innings with three strike outs.
However, he ran into trouble in the top of the third inning when he issued back-to-back walks to Corey Stein and Mitchell Nau. Mikey Reynolds followed with an bunt single to load the bases.
The Aggies would strike first when Scott Arthur hit a sacrifice fly to left field that allowed Troy Stein to score from third to make it 1-0.
After another Aggie walk, Oros got Tyler Naquin to ground out into a double play to end the inning and avoid further damage.
They added another run in the top of the fourth inning to increased the lead to 2-0 on a sacrifice fly by Brandon Wood.
Chance Bolcerek earlier hit a one out triple and scored on the sacrifice fly.
Oros ran into more problems in the top of the fifth inning when he gave up three straight singles that load the bases.
Then the flood gates opened up in the top of the fifth inning as the Aggies added four more runs to expand their lead to 6-0 on a pair of back-to-back-to-back bases load walks that scored three runs and a RBI single by Corey Stein.
The Aggies would score a run in the top of the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings to increase their lead to 10-0.
Starting pitcher Daniel Mengden pitched seven innings and got the win for the Aggies. The Bearkats used a total 7 pitchers with Oros suffering his first loss.
The Bearkats resume their Southland Conference action as they travel to Arlington, Texas as they face UT-Arlington in a three-game series this weekend.
Tomi Garrison: A Proven Winner
by Cheval John
Every student athlete dreams of finishing their collegiate career on a high note.
For senior pitcher Tomi Garrison, she will get that opportunity to close out her career as Sam Houston State Bearkat softball team competes in the Southland Conference Post-Season Tournament that will be held in San Antonio from May 10-12.
The Bearkats, who started the season at 1-13, won their last 25 of 31 games to finish the season at 26-19 and secured the No. 2 seed for the tournament.
Garrison played a major role in the turnaround as she collected 9 wins, pitched a total of 73.2 innings and struck out 50 total batters in her last 11 starts and got three saves in relief to finish the regular season at 10-8.
“We started out the season saying, ‘we’re going to the tournament,’ and now we are” Garrison said.
“We knew we had a good team…when we went through that slump, it brought our team together. In the middle of the season, you started seeing more chemistry between us.”
It comes as no surprise to Garrison as she has been on every winning team since she began playing the sport competitively at nine years old.
The psychology major was the starting pitcher at Garland High School, the team made it to four state championships, winning two in the process.
As a starter, she compiled a record of 97-13 and racked up awards including the All-State Tournament and State Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2007 and“District 10A-5 MVP,” and the Gales Fields Awards in her senior year.
She also pitched for the Texas Glory Softball Club, that won the AFA National Championship.
Garrison knew that she wanted to attend Sam Houston State University because during her time at Garland, one of her assistant coach Jennifer Robertson, was a former player and assistant coach for head coach Bob Brock at SHSU.
“I got a call from her (Robertson)…’you need to come out and watch our freshman pitcher (Garrison), she’s really good,” coach Brock said. “I got a young lady who ended up pitching all four years in the final state championship game.”
“I really wanted to go to Sam because coach Brock would come to a lot of my games,” Garrison said.
She compiled a 3-3 record, with 26 strike outs and a 3.22 earned run average (e.r.a.) and made the SLC Tournament in her first year at Sam.
She improved in her sophomore year, with a 5-4 record and striking out 37 batters.
Her junior year was a break-out year as she struck out 116 batters and dropped her e.r.a to 2.62 and was an honarable-mention on the All-Southland Conference team.
“She is consistent and she get strike outs when you need them,” coach Brock said.
Now with the regular season over, Garrison is more focused on winning the tournament and knows what it takes to win.
She has established her legacy on the softball program and coach Brock is a better person because of the opportunity he had to coach Garrison.
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