Lions takes first game of double-header
The Southeastern Lousiana Lions defeated the Sam Houston State Bearkats in the first game of the double-header by the score of 4-2.
The win pulls them within two games of the Bearkats (32-16, 20-8 SLC), who are in first place of the Southland Conference.
The Bearkats waste no time getting on the board with two runs in the bottom of the first inning that made it 2-0.
First baseman Ryan O’Hearn hit an RBI single to right field that scored center fielder Colt Atwood from third that made it 1-0.
Two batters later, right fielder Greg Olson hit a sacrifice fly that scored third baseman Kevin Miller from third to increase the lead to 2-0.
The Bearkats was looking to add more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning when Corey Toups led off with a double that hit off the right field wall. Atwood followed with a walk.
Both runners advanced to second and third, respectively on a sacrifice bunt by Luke Plucheck.
However, Toups was thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice play that allowed Miller to reach first and O’Hearn flied out to end the inning.
The Lions (34-16, 18-10 SLC) capitalized and exploded for three runs in the top of the sixth inning to take the lead by the score of 3-2.
They scored their first run on a RBI ground out by Jonathan Pace to cut the lead to 2-1.
Cody Gougler followed with a two-run single up the middle that gave them a 3-2 lead.
Alex Marse and Harry Slade started the rally with back-to-back singles.
Both runners advanced to second and third, respectively on a sacrifice bunt by Ben Hernandez.
Brock Herbert was hit by a pitch to load the bases and set up the offensive rally.
They added another run in the top of the ninth inning on a to increase their lead to 4-2.
The Bearkats had a chance going in the bottom of the ninth inning when Shea Pierce led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single to left field. Plumlee followed with a single to right field to put runners on first and second.
Toups was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
However, they could not capitalized as both Atwood and pinch hitter Anthony Azar struck out and Miller flied out to end the game.
Andro Cutura went 5 2/3 innings and got the win while Caleb Smith suffered the loss.
Stefan Lopez got his 19th save of the year, breaking the Southland Conference all-time record for saves in a year.
The second game of the double header is set to begin in 45 minutes here at Don Sanders Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.
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.
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.
Bearkats Defeats Islanders 6-3 To Take The Series
A five-run, fourth inning propelled the Sam Houston State (SHSU) Bearkat baseball team to a 6-3 victory over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders and take the three game series.
The win improved their overall record to 31-12 and a Southland Conference (SLC) record to 19-5.
“The one thing that I really enjoy about this team is that they pick each other up and they understand their roles,” Bearkat head coach David Pierce said.
The Islanders (18-26, 10-14 SLC) tacked on 3 runs in the top of the third inning to take a 3-0 lead.
Santiago Ruiz scored their first run on a fielder’s choice play that made it 1-0.
Brad Porras followed with a two-run blast to left field that increased the lead to 3-0. It was only his second home run of the season.
It seemed as nothing was going the Bearkats way as starting pitcher Daniel Minor kept them at bay for the first three innings as he struck out five batters.
“I could see why he (Minor) is good,” Pierce said. “He is a four pitch guy that could really command it.
“He got great down hill angle on his fastball……he manages the running game.”
The Bearkats finally got to him in the bottom of the fourth inning and exploded for five runs to take a 5-3 lead.
Kevin Miller lined a two-run single up the middle to cut the lead to 3-2.
Two batters later, Ryan O’Hearn lined an RBI single to right field that tied the score at 3.
With the bases loaded, Ryan Farney lined a two run single to right field to give the Bearkats a 5-3 lead.
“I was really excited to have that opportunity to have the bases loaded…” Farney said. “I was ready to go and I got a pitch I liked and drove it.”
After avoiding near disaster that would have broke the game open for the Islanders in the top of the sixth and seventh innings, the Bearkats added an insurance run in the bottom of the eight inning to increase the lead to 6-3 and reliever Michael Burchett came into the ninth inning and get the final three outs to save it for the Bearkats.
Reliever Brandon Bergen pitched two innings and got his second win of the season while Minor suffered the loss for the Islanders.
The Bearkats will face Texas A&M Aggies on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. at Don Sanders Stadium on the campus of SHSU.
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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