Bearkats Eliminates Panthers 4-2 To Advance In The Houston Regional
by Cheval John
Houston, Texas- The Sam Houston State Bearkat baseball team defeated Prarie View A&M Panthers by the score of 4-2 to advanced to the third round of the NCAA Baseball Championships Houston Regional.
The win was their first in the tournament since 2007 when they eliminated Troy in comeback fashion in the Oxford Regional.
The Panthers took advantage of two Bearkat errors and struck first in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly by Andre Oliver that made it 1-0.
The Bearkats had an opportunity to tie the game in the top of the third when Jesse Plumlee led off with a double.
He advanced to third on a fly out by Colt Atwood, but was left stranded as Luke Plucheck struck out to end the inning.
Their best chance came in the fourth inning when Jake Arrington reached first on a error by Oliver with one out in the inning.
He advanced to third on a single by Kevin Miller.
However, Stef Hernandez struck out Ryan O’Hearn to get the second out and Arrington was thrown out at home to end the inning.
They finally capitalized in the top of the fifth inning by scoring three runs to take a 3-1 lead.
Atwood’s bases clearing, two-run single put the Kats in front 2-1.
John Hale started the rally by reaching second on a two-base error by James Fontenot and advanced to third on a bunt single by Plumlee.
Corey Toups reached first on an error by Dominiq Harris to load the bases.
Hale and Plumlee scored on Atwood’s single.
Toups scored the third run on a fielder’s choice that allowed Plucheck to reach first.
The Panthers would not go away as they cut the lead to 3-2 on a one out, bases-loaded walk to Darryl Johnson.
With the bases still loaded, starting pitcher Justin Jackson got Oliver to ground into an inning ending double play to avoid any further damage.
Plumlee scored the insurance run in the top of the ninth inning to increase the Bearkat lead by the score of 4-2.
That run turned out to be huge as the Panthers had something going in the bottom of the ninth when they registered two base runners on a pair of singles by Fontenot and Brett Valley.
Brad Benes followed with a walk to load the bases.
But reliever Michael Burchett came through in the clutch as he got the final three outs to seal the victory for the Kats.
Jackson pitched eight solid innings and got the win while Burchett earned his ninth save of the season.
The Bearkats will play tomorrow at 1 p.m against the loser of the Rice/Arkansas match up that will take place tonight at 6 p.m.
The winner of Sunday’s game will move on to the championship round of the Houston Regional later that night.
Bearkats Loses First Game In NCAA Baseball Championships Houston Regional
by Cheval John
Houston, Texas- After striking for four runs in the top of the fifth inning to gain their first lead in the contest, it seemed as if the # 3 seeded Sam Houston State Bearkat baseball team was on their way to getting their first win in the NCAA Baseball Championships Houston Regional.
However, the # 2 seeded Arkansas Razorbacks had different ideas as they rebounded in the bottom of the seventh inning and scored three runs to regain the lead and eventually defeated the Kats by the score of 5-4.
Starting pitcher Caleb Smith threw 117 total pitches in 7 2/3 innings and held the Razorbacks at bay for most of the game.
But it wasn’t enough as Arkansas got key hits when it counted.
The trouble began in the bottom of the fourth inning when Matt Reynolds led off the inning with a double.
They added two more base runners on consecutive walks to Brian Anderson and Bo Bingham to load the bases.
A pair of sacrifice flies scored both Reynolds and Bingham to give the Razorbacks a 2-0.
It didn’t take long for the Bearkats to answer as they scored four runs in the top of the fifth inning to lead it by the score of 4-2.
Luke Plucheck drove in their first run on a bases-clearing ground out to cut the lead to 2-1.
Anthony Azar followed with an RBI single to tie the game at 2.
Then, Jake Arrington followed with a two-run triple to complete the four run rally.
For two innings, Smith kept the Razorbacks at bay as he retired six batters in a row.
Then the lead evaporated in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Razorbacks scored three runs on a two-run single by Tim Carver and an RBI ground out by Reynolds to take back the lead and win by the score of 5-4.
The Bearkats will try to avoid elimination tomorrow as they face Prarie View A&M Panthers at 1 p.m.
The Panthers lost a nail biter to regional host Rice in the nightcap by the score of 3-2.
Innovation At It’s Best
by Cheval John
The Woodlands, Texas- “Today is an historic day for our institution and yet another example of why Sam Houston State is a great name in Texas education.”
That were the opening remarks of Sam Houston State University (SHSU) president, Dr. Dana Gibson to the audience in attendance at the Grand Opening Ceremony of Sam Houston State University-The Woodlands Center on the campus of Lone Star College-Montgomery.
Among those who were in attendance were members of The Texas State University System’s (TSUS) Board of Regents, TSUS Chancellor Brian McCall, Vice Chancellor of Lone Star College System Rand Key, LSC-Montgemery President Austin A. Lane, U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady, Texas Representative Lois Kolkhorst and representatives from the South Montgomery Woodlands Chambers of Commerce.
The event was streamed lived through SHSU Online for those who could not make it to the ceremony.
The Center is a 144,164 square foot, four story facility that has an auditorium that seats 120, three lecture rooms that holds a seating for 64 students, a five-story parking garage, an 80-seat computer lab and a whole lot more.
It also increases the chance for area residents, who graduated from LSCS with their associate degree and can’t make it onto the main campus, to continue their education at the center to complete their bachelor’s degree.
“The potential for the Woodlands Center is endless,” Dr. Janet Mullings, Executive Director of SHSU-The Woodlands Center said. “As an extension of our main campus, we are bringing the culture of SHSU here.”
“We will enrich this community and in return, they will enrich SHSU through this campus.”
Prior to the opening of the Woodlands Center, SHSU, in conjunction with five area universities, offered classes in the University Center, in partnership with LSCS.
Over time, it became apparent they needed their own building because they were offering 80% percent of the classes.
In 2005, they entered into an agreement that would move the process toward reality.
With the help of Congressman Brady and State Representative Kolkhorst, they secured the funding and in 2009, the deal was finalized that allowed LSCS to donate seven acres of land to Sam Houston, with the understanding that they will be able to teach their classes at the center and use the parking garage for their students, faculty and staff.
They broke ground in the fall of 2010 and in the spring of 2011, they began construction on the property and completed the center in one year.
“Sam Houston State is our top transfer school,” president Lane said. “We are looking forward to offering even more classes out here for our students so that they can transfer seamlessly from Lone Star College-Montgomery.
With the center completed, SHSU have positioned themselves to have a strong presence in the Woodlands and expand their undergraduate and graduate degree programs to the community.
For those students who start their education at a community college, like Lone Star and live in Montgomery County, they do not have to travel long distance to further their education thanks to the Woodlands Center.
“LSCS has been an important partner for us,” Dr. Gibson said. “We realized that many students today need to start at a community college and then transfer….we are really an phenomenal example of that type of partnership with the two of us together.
Staying “In The Zone”
by Cheval John
When people hear of Huntsville, Texas, the first thing they think of is “prison city”
because it is the headquarters of the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ).
But they fail to realize that there is more to the city than what meets the eye.
For example, it is home to Sam Houston State University, a Carnegie Doctoral Research University that have over 17,000.
These same students would believe that there is nothing to do when they first arrive here,
but would later discover that there is more to do
thanks to a magazine called In The Zone (ITZ).
ITZ is a free monthly entertainment magazine that was founded in 2006 by D.J. Schafer and Jason Naavasard.
It has articles about places to go, sporting events, fashion, movies reviews and a lot more.
“We had quarterly magazines for senior lifestyles…” Schafer said. “The only thing that we didn’t touch was the college.”
The founders held focus groups to find out the type of content that would be suited for the magazine.
They even allowed the participants to write down the possible name of magazine.
After looking at the responses, they came up with the name “In The Zone.”
From there, Schafer built the logo overnight and the first issue was launched in May 2006.
“We decided to start the first issue in the summer instead of the
first day of school because it allowed me to work out the kinks to everything,” Schafer said.
Over time, the magazine has gained popularity among the students, but like any business, it has seen it’s ups and downs.
Naavasard left the magazine last year and they
brought in Mallory Collins as their outside sales representative earlier this year.
Since she joined, the magazines have reached new heights and the team
are looking forward to new opportunities that will come their way
in the fall because of new students that will attend the university.
“You have to re-market yourself every year and target the new comers,” Collins said.
For more information about ITZ, visit their website at www.itzmag.com.
Bearkats Are Tournament Bound
by Cheval John
There’s always a first time for everything.
For the Sam Houston State (SHSU) Bearkat baseball team, it couldn’t come at a better time.
After coming up short in the Southland Conference (SLC) Baseball Post-Season Tournament in the semifinals against eventual champion, University Of Texas-Arlington, they received an at-large bid to the NCAA Baseball Tournament.
It will be the seventh time that the Bearkats will participate in the tournament in their 26 years of competition at the NCAA Division I level.
The last six appearances were results of winning post-season tournaments in the Gulf Star Conference (1987) and SLC (1996, 2007, 2008, 2009).
The latter did not hold a post-season tournament until 1992.
The Bearkats, under first year head coach David Pierce, compiled an overall record of 38-20 and an SLC record of 24-9.
In the process, they won the SLC regular season title for the first time since 1989.
Everything went right for them this past season as their Rate Percentage Index (RPI) was 49th in the country.
The NCAA baseball selection committee uses this formula to choose who would get one of the 34 at-large bids for the tournaments.
The rest of the slots are filled with teams that have won either their respective conference regular season titles or post-season titles.
The majority of the bids goes to teams who are members these conferences depending on if they have a winning record and a higher RPI: Big Ten, Pacific 12 (PAC 12), Southeastern Conference (SEC), Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big 12, and the Big East.
Teams from a mid-major conferences like the Southland Conference have an opportunity to get in if they have won their respective post-season tournament because their RPI is normally low in the rankings.
The Bearkats, however, was ranked 49th in RPI because of competition against top ranked RPI teams like Baylor (#4), Texas A&M (#8), Rice (#11), Dallas Baptist (#22) and San Diego (#28).
They also won the majority of their conference series that included three straight weekend sweeps that began with last year’s defending SLC regular season and post-season champs Texas State.
Their only series loss would come against, you guess it, UTA.
The Kats have come a long way this year because with three returning starters and a new head coach, they were projected to finish sixth in the SLC and now they are heading to the NCAA tournament.
The Bearkats begin tournament play on Friday at 1 p.m. against the University of Arkansas in the Houston regional hosted by Rice University.
Here is a video of the reaction of the Bearkat Baseball Players receiving the news of their at-large bid.