by Cheval John

The recognition keeps on coming for the Sam Houston State Bearkat baseball team as catcher Anthony Azar was named to the first team section of the ABCA All-South Central Region Team.

The South Central Region is made up of members from the Southland Conference, Sun Belt Conference, Conference USA and Southwestern Athletic Conference.

The sophomore from The Woodlands played a key role in the Bearkats earning an at-large bid to the 2012 NCAA Baseball Tournament.

It was their seventh appearance in their twenty-six years at the NCAA Division I level as a member of the Southland Conference.

He had a .354 batting average with a team high three home runs, 38 RBIs, 10 doubles and a.402 on base percentage.

Though the numbers seemed low, it came at the right moment in crucial situations during the Bearkat run.

Trailing arch-rival Texas State in the crucial first game of the series, Azar blasted a two-run home run that capped a four run, seventh inning that jumpstarted the three-game sweep of the Bobcats.

In the Southland Conference Post-Season Tournament, with the game tied at three, he hit a walk-off home run that avenged the loss against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders and solidify a spot in the tournament for the Bearkats.

He came through in the NCAA Houston Regional tournament for the Bearkats.

Leading host Rice by the score of 2-1, he hit a two out, two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning that extend the lead 4-1 and put the dagger through the heart of the Owls.

Since Azar was selected as a first team honoree, he is a candidate for the ABCA All-America honor which will be determined during the College World Series that take place in Omaha, Nebraska from June 15-26.

You can see Azar’s game-winning home run against Texas State by clicking here at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJAfW_tWC0Y