Matt Shelton's heroics lead Kats to NCAAs
5/29/2009 8:30:00 AM | Baseball
By Cody Stark
Assistant Sports Editor, Huntsville Item
Matt Shelton is only a sophomore, but he has already become somewhat of a legend at Sam Houston State.
In the Southland Conference tournament championship game for the third straight year last Saturday, the Bearkats needed someone to come in and eat up some innings after senior starter Jacob Howard held top-seeded Texas State to one run in the first three innings.
Despite pitching 3 2/3 scoreless innings to close out Sam Houston's 8-6 victory over Texas-San Antonio two nights earlier, Bearkats head coach Mark Johnson decided to bring in Shelton to see if the right-handed closer could toss a couple of frames before going deeper into the bullpen.
But Shelton did more than that. He completely shutdown the Bobcats' potent offense, which had outscored its previous three opponents 32-5. Shelton pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings, scattering four hits and striking out eight to help lift seventh-seeded Sam Houston State to a 7-1 victory.
“He was unbelievable in that title game,” said Johnson, whose Bearkats squad plays Rice in the Houston Regional today at Reckling Park. “He truly was instrumental in our championship run. We only planned to use him for a couple of innings, but he got in a groove and was just fantastic.”
Shelton made an immediate impact when he entered the championship game in the top of the fourth inning. After Howard walked the leadoff batter, Shelton induced a 5-4-3 double play then got the next hitter to fly out to center to preserve a 2-1 lead.
Shelton quickly set the Bobcats down in order in the fifth, then the worst thing that could have happened, did. Rain forced a 46 minute delay in the bottom half of the inning with the Bearkats batting with two outs.
With Shelton dealing on the mound, the question was if he could come back out and have the same success before the delay? He answered that in a hurry when he struck out the side in the sixth after hitting the leadoff man.
“I was just hoping that I wouldn't lose my adrenaline during the delay, so I went and threw in the batting cage,” Shelton said Thursday afternoon. “I had a jacket on and it was 100 degrees outside. I just wanted to be able to pitch as well as I was.
“After the first pitch, I hit the guy and was thinking ?Oh man, this isn't going to be good.' But I turned it around and had a blast.”
That's when the legend was born. Shelton continued his gritty performance until finally running into trouble in the ninth. He struck out two of the first three batters, before Texas State loaded the bases with a pair of singles.
Johnson wanted Shelton to finish his gem, but with Sam Houston's third straight NCAA regional appearance on the line, he didn't want to risk it and brought in reliever Ryan Tepera, who ended it with a strikeout.
Still, the story of the tournament was Shelton, who earned two victories in relief. The longest outing he had pitched all season before the SLC tournament was 3 2/3 innings against McNeese State on April 3. But he managed to toss 9 1/3 scoreless frames with only a day between appearances on the way to being named the Southland Conference tournament most valuable player.
“It was such a blast to go to that tournament and do as well as I did and throw for so long,” said Shelton, who is 7-0 with a 1.86 ERA and two saves. “For my arm to feel that good after throwing 3 2/3, having a days rest and then trying to go out and throw 77 pitches was miraculous.
“I'm really excited about this regional as well and we want to hurry up and get there.”
The bullpen carried the Bearkats' pitching staff for most of the season, but during the stretch run, the starters took over. Freshman Sean Weatherford, Howard and sophomore Brent Powers combined to throw five complete games in the final few weeks of the regular season to keep the relievers well rested.
Weatherford also went the distance in Sam Houston State's 9-2 victory over Southeastern Louisiana in the opening round of the tournament, which set the stage for title run.
“Early in the season we tried to use Matt for only one or two innings a week because he had a long recovery time,” Johnson said. “We decided to move him into the closer role when we moved Weatherford into the starting rotation. This last month we started using him more because we were getting those complete games and Matt was well rested.
“He told us his arm was feeling good after the UTSA game, so we decided to go with him against Texas State. His performance was classic.”
Armed with a wicked slider because he can't throw a curveball due to the fact he is double-jointed in his right elbow, Shelton is the latest weapon to emerge out of the Bearkats' arsenal.
With reliable starters, a solid bullpen and a dangerous offense, Sam Houston State is hoping to make a little noise this weekend in Houston.
“We need to have our starters go as long as they can because when it comes to tournaments your bullpen needs to be as fresh as possible,” Shelton said. “That and it takes so much pressure of us knowing that we can make a mistake and the offense is going to be there to back us.
“We always feel like we can win any ballgame.”
