Archive | September 2012

The Most Bizarre Play In Baseball History

by Cheval John

I have been a fan of sports for a very time

When I started covering sports over a year ago, I knew that it was going to be fun.

I also knew that I would be able to witness history, like the Bearkat football team’s historic run towards the national championship.

Along the way, I witnessed bizarre plays that forces you to ask, “What just happened?”

One of those plays happened on Saturday when the Washington Nationals played St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

With the bases loaded, Michael Morse hit a fly ball to right field and it went over the fence and hit the second wall of the field.

In the process, it landed back onto the field and Carlos Beltran played it like a live ball.

Morse, believing that it was a grand slam, was in the homerun trot when he was tagged out.

The umpires gathered together to look at the replay and saw that it was a homerun and awarded it to him.

The rest of story is explained here by Yard Barker in conjuction with Fox Sports.com on MSN.

Bearkats Clawed Their Way Over Bears 2-1

Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Informatio

Katie Ferrara and Kirby Zak each scored, then Sam Houston held off a determined charge by the top scoring offense in the Southland Conference as they defeated Central Arkansas 2-1 Sunday afternoon at Pritchett Field.

UCA had scored 38 goals in their first 10 games this season, but the Bears were held scoreless for 84 minutes by SHSU goalkeeper Kylie Hambleton and her Bearkat backline.

 Ferrara scored at the 12:53 mark, the earliest goal by Sam Houston this season, for a quick 1-0 lead.

 She intercepted an attempt by UCA goalkeeper Kelsey Gouchnauer to roll a ball out to one of her defenders and promptly put a shot from 19 yards out in the back of the net.

 Zak fired in what turned out to be the match winning goal on a cornerkick from the left side to the far post.

Shelby McDaniel’s corner found Lindsey Posner who made a short pass to Zak.

The senior forward fired in her second goal of the weekend at the 58:33 mark.

UCA’s goal also came on a cornerkick as Elizabeth Bradley’s ball found Kristin Pollard at the far post and scored with six minutes to play.

Central Arkansas took 14 shots with Hambleton saving four.

Sam Houston now stands 2-0 in Southland Conference play and is 5-7 for the year. Central Arkansas drops to 8-2-1 for the season and 0-1-1 in league action.

“It’s huge to start conference play 2-0,” SHSU head coach Tom Brown said. “Our goal is to win all our home games and then try and pick up as many as we can on the road. Our tough non-conference schedule has really helped us. We played No. 16 Rutgers and tough opponents on the road like Air Force and UTEP. It really has made us play better and harder and it paid off this weekend.”

Sam Houston faces a long road swing next weekend, playing at Southeastern Louisiana, then heading to Oral Roberts.

Bearkat Volleyball Team Earns Third Consecutive Win

Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information

Thibodaux, La. – Led by Kendall Cleveland and Deveney Wells-Gibson, Sam Houston State took only an hour and 19 minutes to dispatch Nicholls State in three sets and earn its third consecutive Southland Conference volleyball victory Saturday afternoon.

The Bearkats defeated the Colonels 25-6 25-19 25-16 to up SHSU’s season record to 8-9.

The Kats now are 4-2 in league action and have won five of their last seven matches.

Cleveland totaled 10 kills in 28 attempts and Wells-Gibson added nine kills.

Both totaled 11 digs. Setter Tayler Gray assisted on 28 of Sam Houston’s 41 kills and led the Kat defense with 13 digs.

Libero Camille Alfaro was credited with seven digs.

Sam Houston never trailed in the first set, jumping out to an 8-2 lead and winning 17 of the final 21 points.

The Colonels held a 14-11 lead in the second set, but the Kats roared back to take the second frame with a 14-5 run.

The final set was tied 3-3 before SHSU took control to wrap up the match.

The Bearkats return to Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum Thursday to host Stephen F. Austin at 7 p.m.

Sam Houston also will face Northwestern State at 2 p.m. Saturday.

SHSU Hosts Defensive Minded UCA Bears On Sunday

Courtesy: Paul Ridings, SHSU Sports Information

After winning their first match on the new turf at Joseph Pritchett Field Friday night, the Sam Houston women’s soccer team faces one of its biggest challenges so far during the 2012 season.

Central Arkansas visits Pritchett at 1 p.m. Sunday, bringing the Southland Conference’s best overall record and top scoring offense to Huntsville.

The Bears have won eight of their 11 matches this season.

UCA and Northwestern State battled to a 0-0 tie in both team’s league opener Saturday night.

Central Arkansas forward Adriana Lucar is the Southland’s leading goal scorer.

She has knocked in 14 goals in 11 games this year. UCA has outscored its opponents 38 goals to eight in non-conference competition.

Sam Houston started Southland play with a 2-0 victory over Nicholls State Friday night.

Tricia Mallory and Kirby Zak scored the goals for the Kats in the second half.

“We’ve been playing great defense all year and it was good to get the offense going with a couple of goals in our conference opener,” Mallory said.

Her goal marked her third this season and the 22nd of her career.

The UCA contest Sunday sets up an interesting matchup between the Southland’s highest scoring offense and one of the league’s top defenses.

Sam Houston has surrendered only 10 goals in 11 matches, posting four shutouts this season.

SHSU Soccer Team Opens Southland Conference Play With Win

Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr, SHSU Sports Information

Huntsville –  Two of the top four scorers for Sam Houston in its 10-year history of women’s soccer accounted for second half goals to lead the Bearkats to a 2-0 shutout of Nicholls State Friday at Joseph Pritchett Field.

The victory marked SHSU’s first game on the new artificial field turf at Pritchett and put the Kats at 1-0 in Southland Conference play.

Tricia Mallory scored the Bearkats’ first goal on a cross from Amanda Biega from the right side in the 55th minute. Less than three minutes later, Kirby Zak tallied on a long ball from Kayla Anderson.

Mallory now has 22 career goals to her credit to rank No. 2 in SHSU all-time scoring behind Raquel Bueno (27 goals from 2005 to 2008). Zak’s tally marked her 18th career score, tying her with Yoanna Garcia (2004-07) for third place in the record book.

Freshman goalkeeper Kylie Hambleton picked up her third shutout of the season, marking three saves on Nicholls’ eight shots. The Bearkats totaled 14 shots.

“The players really were excited about playing on the new turf here at Pritchett,” head coach Tom Brown said. “We created some good chances in the first half but couldn’t convert. But we had a good attacking mentality and were able to take advantage of some space on the right side. It’s good to pick up the win in our first conference game.”

Sam Houston now stand 4-7 for the season. Nicholls dropped to 5-6.

The Bearkats return to action Sunday at 1 p.m. at Pritchett, hosting Central Arkansas.