Baseball winning streak longest since 1986
4/23/2009 3:00:00 PM | Baseball
Since arriving at Sam Houston State in 2007, Mark Johnson has accomplished quite a bit at the helm of the Bearkat baseball team that had never been done before. After a sweep of Houston Baptist on Wednesday night, another one can be added to the list.
The Bearkats (28-13 overall, 14-7 SLC) have now won 10 straight games for the first time since moving up to the Division I level. You have to go back to 1986 to find the last time an SHSU baseball team won 10 or more games, the last year they played as a Division II squad. That season the Bearkats had winning streaks of 13 and 10.
Dating back to 1950, the Kats have now had 10 streaks of 10 or more wins. The best stretch for a Bearkat team at any level was in 1974 when they won 19 straight games as an NAIA program.
The longest winning streak for the Bearkats as a Division I program was eight games, the last time coming in 2000. This year's run includes wins over SLC foes Lamar and Nicholls State as well as wins over Houston and Baylor.
The Bearkats have put up some pretty impressive numbers during this stretch as well. As a team they are hitting .413 and are outscoring their opponents 118-48. Four of the regulars in the lineup are hitting over .400 with Braeden Riley leading the way with a .542 clip and Nick Zaleski hitting .515.
“Baseball is a game that can get contagious, and I think we had a couple of guys get on a roll and then everyone has just followed in line,” Johnson said. “I think it really started for us at Nicholls. The wind was blowing in from left and we were forced to start hitting the ball the other way and we just kept that approach.”
Riley has collected 26 hits during this stretch and now stands at 81 which leads the nation. He has nine more hits than anyone else in the country, ahead of Sonny Meade at The Citadel and Mike Brownstein at New Mexico who each have 72. Riley also tops the NCAA in at bats with 197 while Zaleski is sixth in the country in hits with 69.
Seven players have driven in 10 or more runs with Ryan Mooney topping the list at 19. The Kats have also been very good on the base paths, swiping 22-of-24 while holding opponents to just 6-of-8. Also, during the 10-game win streak, Bearkat hitters have drawn 39 walks while striking out just 36 times.
The pitching has also been much improved for the Kats. They have a staff ERA of 4.66, down from 6.15 prior to the winning streak. Five pitchers with five our more innings pitched have an ERA under 4.00 with Will Skelton and Sean Weatherford at 1.80.
“We have not had to play from behind as of late either and a lot of that credit has to go to our pitching staff,” Johnson said. “We are doing a lot of the little things well like moving the runners over and putting guys in motion on the bases. We have also had some really good at bats and picked up quite a few 2-strike hits.”
The Bearkats will try to extend the streak at home this weekend in a big three-game series against Southeastern Louisiana at Don Sanders Stadium. The Lions (23-17, 12-9) sit in fourth place in the SLC standings, two games back of the second-place Bearkats.
Longest winning streaks
19 ? 1974
17 ? 1974
15 ? 1972
14 ? 1980
13 ? 1986
10 ? 2009 (Active)
10 ? 1986
10 ? 1976
10 ? 1975
10 ? 1962
