@SamHoustonState Secures Third Consecutive SLC Title
By Cheval John
Sam Houston State clinched their third consecutive Southland Conference regular season title after a 13-3 mercy-rule win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders in eight innings at Don Sanders Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.
The victory gave the Bearkats at least a share of the title and the No.1 seed in the SLC tournament which will be on May 21st-24th on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas.
Both teams battled for the first five and 2/3 innings.
A&M-Corpus Christi (19-10 conference play, 30-24 overall) struck the first blow in the top of the second inning when catcher Russell Vaughan hit a opposite field home run to left field for a 1-0 lead.
Sam Houston (21-8 conference play, 39-15 overall) responded swiftly as they scored 2 runs in the bottom of the second inning for a 2-1 lead.
First baseman Ryan O’Hearn, who went 3 for 3 with 3 RBIs, led off with a single, advanced to third on a single by third baseman Carter Burgess, and scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly by short stop Corey Toups.
A couple batters later, left fielder Luke Plucheck hit a RBI single up the middle that capped the inning.
The Islanders tied it up at 2 on a two out, RBI infield single by third baseman Brandon Tierney.
Sam Houston regain the lead at 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning before the Islanders knotted it up at 3 in the top of the sixth inning on a two out, RBI infield single by pinch hitter Dominic Lopez.
That set things up for the Bearkats to break the game wide open with a nine run explosion in the bottom of the 6th inning to make it 12-3.
Toups started the party with a one out, RBI single that made it 4-3.
A couple batters later, second baseman Shea Pierce drove in the fifth run on a sacrifice fly.
With the base loaded and two outs, center fielder Colt Atwood hit a two run, single to increase the lead to 7-3.
Designated hitter Hayden Simerly issued the walk to load the bases again that allowed catcher Anthony Azar, who started the inning with a single, to hit a two run single to make it 9-3.
Then O’Hearn delivered the dagger with a three-run opposite field home run to capped the inning.
Burgess sealed the victory in the bottom of the eighth inning when he hit an RBI single to make it 13-3 and put the mercy-rule in effect.
Though Sam Houston has the series at hand, they have an opportunity to sweep the Islanders today at 1 p.m. and keep the title to themselves.
@SamHoustonState Are Closer To Third Consecutive SLC Title
By Cheval John
HUNTSVILLE,TEXAS-Sam Houston State understood that they had to bring their A-game if they wanted to set the tone against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first game of the weekend series.
Both teams were tied for first place in the Southland Conference (SLC) and vying for a regular season title.
Sam Houston made sure that they were the only ones in first place after a 9-2 demolition of the Islanders.
With the win, the Bearkats are one game away from securing a share of the SLC title, which will be their third straight championship.
The Bearkats (20-8 SLC play, 38-15 overall) got offensive production from right fielder Travis Lee and short stop Corey Toups.
Lee went 3 for 3 with four RBIs while Toups was 3 for 3 from the plate with 3 RBIs.
Sam Houston got quality pitching from starter Tyler Eppler, who went eight strong innings and got his eight win of the season.
Eppler only gave up a run on 6 hits, struck out six batters and walked only two.
Corpus Christi (19-9 conference play, 30-23 overall) had their chances, but couldn’t capitalized as they left 11 runners on base.
The Islanders struck in the top of the third for a 1-0 lead.
A&M-Corpus Christi had runners in scoring position after a double from left fielder Jordan Lee advanced Garza, who reached on fielder’s choice.
Then Garza scored from third on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Brandon Tierney.
Sam Houston responded with a four run explosion in the bottom of the fourth inning to make it 4-1.
With two outs and runner on, Toups launched a two-run home run to left field.
That was just the beginning.
Second baseman Shea Pierce followed with a walk and left fielder Luke Plucheck issued a walk and advanced to second on the wild pitch by starting pitcher Matt Danton, who suffered the loss, that allowed Pierce to reach third.
Then, Lee hit a two-run single up the middle that capped the inning.
Sam Houston added three more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to increase the lead to 7-1 on a RBI single by third baseman Carter Burgess, a RBI double by Toups, and a wild pitch by reliever Lukas Hermanson which allowed Burgess to score from third.
The Bearkats tacked on two more for good measure in the bottom of the eighth inning to increase the lead to 9-1 on a two-run single by Lee.
Though the Islanders scored in the top of the ninth inning to make it 9-2 on a base-loaded walk by Lee, reliever Nolan Riggs came in and retired the next three batters to seal the victory.
Sam Houston will look to take the series and the SLC regular season title later today beginning at 6:30 p.m.
#SHSU Sets The Bar To A Championship Level
By Cheval John
When Bobby Williams took over as the athletic director 17 years ago at Sam Houston State, his vision was to make the department a first class organization that wins championships and excel in the classroom.
Those goals came to fruition and then some.
SHSU has won a combined 23 Southland Conference (SLC) titles, 17 NCAA playoff appearances that includes the school’s first ever national title at the Division I level (SHSU Bowling 2014) and two consecutive Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Finalist (Football 2011, 2012) and four Southland Commissioner’s Cups (2005, 2006, 2007, 2013).
In addition, the combined GPA for entire athletic department for the 2013-14 school is 3.04.
The department have extended a new tradition for the “student-athletes” called, “The Night of Champions,” an event that is as close to the ESPY’s that highlights the teams that have either won a SLC title or in the case of the bowling team, a national championship; spotlight Bearkats who have made it the national spotlight; and the achievements in the classroom.
Even SLC commissioner Tom Burnett was there to present former Bearkat running back and future NFL draftee Timothy Flanders with the award of becoming the first Southland player to rush for over 5,000 career yards in the FCS and setting the career rushing mark in the conference.
Of course, they deserve the recognition because they have brought the city of Huntsville a first-class athletic events that is as close to a major professional sport franchise.
What I mean is that cities (with the exclusion of Green Bay) that want to be the home of a professional sports organization, must have a strong tax base in order to build a stadium; Have a significant amount of people (300,000 and over) in order to support the giant salaries and have a strong media presence.
That poses a strong problem for small cities/towns like Huntsville because they don’t have those elements.
That’s where college sports comes into play because all of the amenities like maintenence of facilities, etc. are the responsibilities of the athletic departments of universities that sponsors collegiate athletics.
With universities being tax exempt, it makes it easier for these smaller cities to focus on other matters.
In the case of Huntsville, Texas, they have gotten more recognition over the last three years because of the SHSU’s football team making consecutive runs at the FCS playoffs (2011, 2012, 2013) and the bowling team national title win against University of Nebraska.’
Members of the SHSU Bowling Team with former Bearkat running back Timothy Flanders.
Those runs gave SHSU and the city of Huntsville, national exposure when they were featured on the ESPN family of networks that brought great name recognition like the major schools that always get the national spotlight during the regular season.
Mr. Williams can say that his vision came to fruition.
They are all champions because of the way they carried themselves in the midst of the pressures of being a full-time student and a full-time athlete.
Timely Hits, Key Defensive Play Helped Sam Houston Defeat SFA 5-4
By Cheval John
Sam Houston State took the first game of the weekend series against arch-rival Stephen F. Austin by the score of 5-4 at Don Sanders Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.
Though Sam Houston (14-8 Southland Conference play, 32-14 overall) had left 10 runners on base, they overcame that with timely hits.
One of those timely hits came from right fielder Travis Lee.
Lee went 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs.
Lee’s first RBI came in the bottom of the second when he hit a single to right fielder that scored short stop Corey Toups, who led off with a walk, advanced to second and third on back-to-back sacrifice bunts by second baseman Shea Pierce and left fielder Luke Plucheck, easily from third base.
Though Stephen F. Austin (8-14 conference, 17-28 overall) had taken a 2-1 lead in the top of the third inning on a two out, two run home run by right fielder Ricardo Sanchez, a defense play from Bearkat center fielder Colt Atwood before the two run blast turned out to be key.
Lumberjack second baseman Conner Fikes led off the third with a double and was attempting to score the first run on a one out single by center fielder Matthew Dickey.
However, Atwood threw him out at home plate for the second out.
The Bearkats responded in the bottom of the fourth inning with two runs to make it 3-2.
Pierce started the rally when he had a one out single.
He advanced to third on a single by Plucheck, while advancing to second on the error.
The next batter, Lee hit a single to left field that drove in Pierce to tie it up at 2.
Atwood followed with a sacrifice fly that capped the inning.
Sam Houston added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning to increase the lead to 4-2 on a RBI single by Lee.
First baseman Ryan O’Hearn’s RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning made it 5-2.
Lumberjacks was not going away quietly as they cut the lead to 5-3 in the top of the seventh inning on a RBI single by Brett Thornell.
Stephen F. Austin drew within a 5-4 lead in the top of the eighth inning after Fikes, who was running on the play, led off with a single and advanced to second base on a ground out by Sanchez, scored from second on a throwing error by reliever Andrew Godail.
Stephen F. Austin made it more interesting in the top of the ninth inning when Fikes led off with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by third baseman Nick Ramos.
However, Ramos would remain stranded as reliever Ryan Brinley struck out the next two batters to secure the win for the Bearkats.
The second game of baseball’s version of “The Battle of The Piney Woods” begins today at 4 p.m.
Long Ball, Strong Pitching Led To Bearkat Sweep Over Lions
By Cheval John
With the series in hand, Sam Houston State wanted to sweep Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday at Don Sanders Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.
The Bearkats did just that with a 4-1 win over the Lions.
Sam Houston is now tied for third place in the Southland Conference (SLC) with a 13-8 record (30-14 overall) with 11 games left in the regular season.
Bearkat starter Sam Odom went 8 innings, giving up only a run on four hits, striking out four batters, and didn’t issue a walk.
The Bearkats got all of their runs from two home runs in the game.
Designated hitter Hayden Simerly, who went 2 for 4, launched a two run shot in the bottom of the third while catcher Anthony Azar, went deep with a two run bomb of his own in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Southeastern Louisiana (12-9 SLC play, 27-17 overall) struck first in the top of the first inning for a 1-0 lead courtesy of a sacrifice fly by right fielder, Andrew Godbold.
Sam Houston responded in the bottom of the third inning with two runs to make it 2-1.
Bearkat right fielder Travis Lee reached first on a fielder’s choice that got left fielder Luke Plucheck , who led off the inning with a walk, out at second.
A batter later, with two outs, Simerly launched a two run shot over the right field wall.
That was all Odom needed as he retired 12 out of 13 batters in the next three innings.
The Bearkats rewarded Odom in the bottom of the seventh inning after Azar hit a two-run moonshot over the left field wall to extend the lead to 4-1.
Ryan Brinley pitched the 9th inning in relief, got the necessary outs to secure the sweep and get his fifth save of the season.
Sam Houston aims to keep the momentum going on Tuesday as they travel to Waco to face Baylor in a non-conference matchup before hosting their arch-rivals, Stephen F. Austin in a weekend series.