Baseball fall World Series begins Friday
10/23/2009 10:15:00 AM | Baseball
With 11 lettermen returning from the 2009 squad that earned Sam Houston State its third consecutive Southland Conference post-season tournament championship and NCAA regional playoff berth, the Bearkats look to complete fall practice with the annual fall World Series at Don Sanders Stadium Friday, Saturday and Monday.
The games Friday and Saturday will start at 6:30 p.m. Monday, play begins at 2:45 p.m.
Sam Houston rolled up a 36-24 record in 2009. The Bearkats went undefeated through the Southland Conference tournament in Corpus Christi to advance to the NCAA Regional at Rice.
Infielder Braeden Riley, who led NCAA Division I baseball in total hits last year, heads the list of returning starters. Other returnees include Ryan Mooney, Jon Reed, Daniel Nottebart, Peter Goudeau and Jordan Bunch.
Sam Houston returns several experienced pitchers including Matt Shelton, Sean Weatherford, Dallas Gallant, Justin Jackson and Brent Powers.
"We've had a good fall and we're looking forward to closing it out with a competitive World Series," head coach Mark Johnson said. "We've had to work through some issues with the rain lately, but we've been pleased with the way the players have responded."
Entering his fourth year as head coach at Sam Houston State, Johnson has lead the Bearkats to a 113-75 record.
Johnson is just 11 victories away from his 1,000th career win as an NCAA Division I head baseball coach.
