Kats play fall ball with Texas & TCU
10/18/2011 11:39:00 AM | Baseball
Bearkat baseball head coach David Pierce is excited about the opportunity to test his 2012 squad against outside competition. The Bearkats will play the Longhorns in Austin Sunday October 23 and with TCU in Fort Worth on Saturday Oct. 29. The Texas exhibition game will be telecast on ESPN's Longhorn Network.
"This is a great opportunity for our program and everyone on the team is excited about the opportunity," Pierce said. "In our fall work so far, we've been doing lots of intra-squad drills that have exposed some areas where we need improvement. Two games against quality non-conference opponents the fall will really help us learn where we stand."
Pierce, who served as an assistant coach at Rice for the last nine years, replaced Mark Johnson as Bearkat head baseball coach in June. He inherits a team that went 35-24 this past season and finished fifth in the Southland Conference.
The Kats ranked in the top three in the Southland this past season in batting, pitching and fielding, and will return three regular position players and two starting pitchers. Sam Houston won the Southland Conference post-season tournament and participated in the NCAA regional playoffs in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
"This is such a good situation here at Sam Houston State with the baseball program, and a lot of that credit goes to Mark Johnson and the job he did here," Pierce said. "When you look at where we are located, I think we have a chance to really recruit well and bring in some very good players on a yearly basis."
Pierce has been the pitching coach for a Rice Owl team that has been one of the best in college baseball. In the last five years, the Rice pitching staff has been ranked in the top 30 in the NCAA in staff ERA, including a No. 4 national mark in 2007.
Sam Houston returns three senior field starters -third baseman Kevin Miller (.309), catcher John Hale (.273) and right fielder Greg Olson (.297). Six other players who saw considerable action also return.
Starting pitchers back include Michael Burchett (4-1, 2.25 ERA), Michael Oros (2-4, 3.10 ERA), Caleb Smith (4-3, 3.18 ERA) and Cody Dickson (4-1, 4.34 ERA).
The Bearkats have 11 freshmen and 11 transfers on their fall roster.
Sam Houston will begin its 2012 schedule on Friday, Feb. 17 with a three-game home series with the University of San Diego.
