Bearkats Takes The First Game Of Crucial Series
A five-run explosion in the bottom of the second inning helped the Sam Houston State (SHSU) Bearkat baseball team take the first game of the series from Northwestern State Demons by the score of 5-4.
With the win, they have extended their first place lead in the Southland Conference with an 11-2 record (21-9 overall) while the Demons, who is second in the conference has an 9-3 record(12-15 overall).
The win also extended their win streak to 10 games.
“It’s a big to get the first win, especially when they are only one game behind,” reliever Brandon Bergen said. “If we had failed tonight, we would have been tied…..the win gave us a little breathing room.”
The Demons waste no time when centerfielder Drew Helenihi stole home to give them a 1-0 lead. Helenihi led off the game with a single and stole second base. With two outs, both Nick Hinojos and Will Watson were hit by pitches by starting pitcher Cody Dickson to load the bases.
They were looking to add more in the top of the second when designated hitter Matt Burns led off the inning with a walk. He advanced to second on an error by first baseman Ryan O’Hearn when he dropped the ball on a pick-off attempt by Dickson.
However, Dickson settled down and got the next three outs to end the Demon threat.
The Bearkats capitalized for five runs in the bottom of the second to take the lead by the score of 5-1.
O’Hearn scored from second base on a error by second baseman Ray Frias that allow right fielder Jake Arrington to reach first and third baseman Kevin Miller scored on a sacrifice fly by catcher John Hale. Arrington would later score the third run of the game on a RBI single by Colt Atwood that went up the middle of the field. Catcher Anthony Azar hit a two-out, two run single to left field that capped off the five run inning. O’Hearn led off the bottom of the second inning with a walk and advanced to second on a single by third baseman Kevin Miller.
Third baseman Ryan Westbrook hit a two out, RBI single in the top of the third inning to cut the Bearkat lead to 5-2.
They kept chipping away as they added two more runs in the top of the seventh inning on back-to-back RBI doubles by Hinojos and Watson to bring the Demons within a 5-4 score.
Things got interesting in the top of the ninth inning when Helenihi appeared to be out at first base, but was called safe at first base by umpire Ricky Rodriguez to set up the potential tying run for the Demons. But Helenihi was forced out at second on a fielder’s choice that allowed Buckley to reach first.
Buckley stole second base to put himself in scoring position to tie the game. Reliever Michael Burchett walked Purdy to put the potential go-ahead run at first.
Burchett got Hinojos to get the second out and Hale thrown out Buckley at third to end the game.
“The pitch was in the dirt and I blocked it and Buckley took off,” Hale said. “I picked it up and threw to third and he was out…the game was over.”
Bergen threw 4 and 2/3 innings in relieve and got his first win of the season while starting pitcher Colin Bear took the loss. Burchett got his third save of the season.
The second game of the series begins at 6:30 p.m at Don Sanders Stadium on the campus of SHSU.
Bearkats massacred the Tigers 14-6
It seemed as if Texas Southern University Tigers was going to pull off an upset against Sam Houston State Bearkats on Wednesday night at Don Sanders Stadium.
But, the Bearkats had something to say about that as they scored 10 runs in one inning that allowed them to defeat the Tigers by the score of 14-6.
It was the sixth time in history that the Bearkats (16-9 overall, 7-2 Southland Conference) scored 10 or more runs in one inning. The last time occurred in 2006 against the University of Texas-Pan American.
The Tigers (12-13 overall, 3-8 Southwestern Athletic Conference) came out of the gate and scored four runs in the top of the third inning that made it 4-0 on a pair of RBI singles by left fielder Louis Hubbard, center fielder Sebastian Stargell and first baseman Anthony Dilligard. Dilligard scored the fourth run of the inning on a pass ball by catcher Shea Pierce.
Smith reached first to start the inning when he was hit by a pitch. He advanced to second on a ground out by catcher Jose Flores. A wild pitch by starting pitcher Brandon Bergen allowed Smith to advance to third that allowed him to score on Hubbard’s single.
Most teams would have probably given up and call it a night, but the Bearkats was not going to be one of those teams.
They responded in a big way when they exploded for ten runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take over the lead by the score of 10-4.
All the Bearkat starters had a hit and scored in the inning. Four of them batted twice.
Short stop Corey Toups scored the first run on an error by catcher Jose Flores. He also hit the go-ahead two-run single that gave them the lead.
“Usually when you give up a four run inning or a big inning early in the game, the thought process is to take it one at-bat at a time and try to get one back, get two back and get yourself back in the game,” head coach David Pierce said. “They kicked the ball araound a little bit and it opened the door for us and our hitters did a great job.”
“The position players responded well to that four run inning that they (Tigers) had,” assistant coach Philip Miller said. “Our guys did an incredible job to put pressure on their defense.”
They added another run in the bottom of the fourth to increase the lead to 11-4.
The Tigers musted up a run in the top of the fifth inning to cut the lead to 11-5, but the Bearkats added another in the bottom of the fifth inning to make it 12-5.
An RBI single by second baseman Jag Gordaya cut the Bearkat lead to 12-6.
The Bearkats finished the massacre as they added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to increase the lead to 14-6.
They finished the game with 15 total hits.
Reliever Andrew Godail went 2 2/3 innings and got his first win of the season. He came in relieve for Bergen who pitched 2 1/3 innings. The Bearkats used a total of six pitchers combined.
Starting pitcher Kevin Schulba suffered the loss for the Tigers.
The Bearkats returns to conference play this weekend as they face the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners in San Antonio for a three game series that will start on Friday.
Bearkats defeats Bobcats 10-4
Sam Houston State Bearkats defeated the Texas State Bobcats by the score of 10-4. The win increased their Southland Conference record to 6-2 (13-9).
The Bearkats wasted no time in the bottom of the second when they scored three runs that made it 3-0 on an error by third baseman Nick Smelser and on back-to-back RBI singles by second baseman Jesse Plumlee and short stop Corey Toups.
“We had great at-bats and were tenacious throughout every at-bat,” head coach David Pierce said. “We kept grinding it and we got runs from it.”
The Bearkats continued the on-slaught as they scored three more runs in the bottom of the third inning to increase the lead to 6-0 on an RBI double by third baseman Kevin Miller, an RBI single by Plumlee and a throwing error by second baseman Tyler Sibley that allowed catcher John Hale to score.
The Bobcats made things interesting in the top of the sixth inning when they scored three runs to cut the lead to 6-3 on an RBI single by designated hitter Ben McElroy and a two-run single by center fielder Jeff McVaney.
It seemed as if the momentum was riding for the Bobcats as left fielder Brooks Orton led off the top of the seventh inning with a walk and advanced to second on a single by Andrew Stumph. But the Bearkats got the next three outs to get out of the inning.
The Bearkats capitalized and exploded for three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to extend the lead to 9-3 on a sacrifice fly by Plumlee and a two-run single by left fielder Luke Plucheck.
The Bobcats added a run in the top of the eighth inning to make it 9-4.
The Bearkats added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning to increase the score to 10-4.
Starting pitcher Justin Jackson went 5 and 2/3 innings and got his fourth win of the season. He gave up three runs on five hits and struck out four batters.
“You want to continue and give yourself some opportunites,” head coach David Pierce said. “We had an opportunity to win the series and we did.”
Starting pitcher Colton Turner only went 2 and 2/3 innings and suffered the loss.
The Bearkats will be going for the sweep tomorrow in the rubber match against the Bobcats at 1 p.m.
“We have to come out and play like we are trying to get swept,” Miller said.
“We have an opportunity to get a sweep,” coach Pierce said. “Nothing is guranteed, but we have the opportunity and they are buying into it.”
“I think they will be ready.”
The Grass Is Not Always Green On The Other Side
by Cheval John
After the University of Texas Longhorns was knocked out in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tourmanent, Gail Goestenkors resigned as head coach of the Longhorns yesterday due to “fatigue.”
In her five seasons as head coach of the Longhorns, she has taken the team to five straight consecutive NCAA tournaments.
However, that was not enough for the Longhorn faithful because of various reasons: 1) She has take her previous team, the Duke Blue Devils to Four Final Four Appearances and played in the national championship twice during her 15 years at the institution and
2) She was replacing legendary coach Jody Conradt, who was the head coach for 31 years, has guided the Longhorns to 21 NCAA tournament appearances, including three Final Fours and winning one national championship in 1986.
In addition, the university launched the Longhorn Network this past August and they want to showcase their excellence to the world on a daily basis, so that they can continue to attract quality recruits to the university.
In retrospect, Goestenkors should have stayed at Duke because she would have become an iconic figure for the women’s basketball team as the current men’s basketball head coach for Duke Mike Krzyzewski.
Instead, she is just another casuality because she could not meet the expectations from the Longhorn faithful and it was difficult to duplicate the success of Jody Conradt.
The Real Winners Of The NCAA Basketball Tournament
In every competion, they always have to be a winner and a loser. That was no different in the NCAA National Championship game that transpired between the University of Kentucky Wildcats and the University of Kansas Jayhawks.
Though it was a good game, the Wildcats defeated the Jayhawks by the score of 67-59 to win the national title.
The championship was their eighth in school history and one would conclude that they are the real winners of the NCAA tournament.
The Jayhawks were the losers, they had a chance to represent their school and to play for the national championship.
However, the real winners of the NCAA Basketball Tournament are the student journalist who represented their college newspapers.
The reason is because they have covered each of these basketball teams for the whole season and with the Final Four taken place, each of these student journalist got the opportunity to sit side by side with sport journalists represent well-known national television and print media that includes ESPN, CBS, TNT, The Houston Chronicle, Yahoo Sports, USA Today and a whole lot more.
With them covering these teams for their school newspapers, they took advantage of the opportunity to network with those that have succeeded in their respective fields, putting themselves in position to get a job once they graduate from their respective universities because in the end, employers are looking for those who have experience along with the degree.
Wouldn’t you want to say that I have met Dick Vitale at the Final Four?
Here is the video tribute to the 2012 National Champions University of Kentucky:
Share this: