Baseball begins crucial series at SE La Friday
5/7/2010 10:29:00 AM | Baseball
First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday. The series will resume on Saturday at 2 p.m. before concluding Sunday at 1.
SHSU (17-29, 9-15 Southland) has claimed the Southland Conference Tournament title the last three seasons under head coach Mark Johnson. But the Bearkats currently are two games behind Lamar and Nicholls for the eighth and final spot in the 2010 tournament to be held in Corpus Christi in May.
Sam Houston is 1-8 in its last three Southland Conference series and will be looking to turn things around for a final push back into contention for the tournament. The Kats will close the season with a home series with Central Arkansas May 14-16 and a road series at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi May 20-22.
The Bearkats are led at the plate by Chris Andreas, who is fourth in the league with a .382 average. Braeden Riley (.344-0-29), Mark Hudson (.340-8-31), Ryan Mooney (.326-2-24) and Greg Olson (.307-1-17) are next in hitting for SHSU, which is averaging .297 at the plate.
SHSU is scheduled for pitch Dallas Gallant (2-7, 4.74 ERA) in Friday's opener with Brandon Kimbrel (3-1, 6.19 ERA) slated to pitch Saturday and Paul Spinn (2-6, 6.44 ERA) on Sunday.
Southeastern (33-14, 15-9 Southland) enters the weekend in fifth place in the Southland Conference standings, three games behind leader Texas State, a game-and-a-half behind Stephen F. Austin, two games behind UT Arlington and a half-game behind Northwestern State.
The Lions will face SFA next week in their final road series of the season before closing out the regular-season May 20-22 against visiting Northwestern State.
The Lions, who lead the league in runs scored (367), on-base percentage (.408), walks (227), hit by pitches (89) and sacrifice bunts (51), have six regulars in the lineup hitting .300 or better paced by Cody Gougler with a .341 average.
Jeff Harkensee (.332-5-36), Justin Boudreaux (.326-10-54), Cass Hargis (.314-0-35), Chris Ernest (.305-0-11) and Brock Hebert (.302-2-46) help pace a Southeastern club that is 22-5 at home this season and spent eight weeks in the national polls.
Southeastern will send junior right-hander Brandon Efferson (7-3, 2.93 ERA) to the mound in Friday's opener with the starters for the remaining two games to be announced.
Tickets for Sam Houston State home baseball games are on sale now online at www.gobearkats.com.
For more information on exciting money-saving ticket offers go to the ticket link below or contact the Sam Houston State ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. The ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.
