Baseball season opens at Tulane
2/17/2011 10:14:00 AM | Baseball
Sam Houston returns 22 of 27 lettermen from the 2010 Bearkat squad. Four starting pitchers return and eight starters from the infield and outfield also are back. The 2011 squad is an experience-laden team with 15 seniors including six three-year lettermen that were part of head coach Mark Johnson's first full recruiting class at Sam Houston.
"We're excited about opening the season. There's something special about the first series," Johnson said. "We definitely feel have so many seniors will be an advantage for us. We're especially looking for strong leadership from our six players who have been part of our last three teams here. They know the effort it takes to get to the NCAA tournament."
The group of seniors includes four players who have earned major Southland Conference honors and look to primed for top seasons in 2011.
Senior outfielder Chris Andreas was a first-team all-league selection and winner of the Bearkat team "Hitter of the Year" award in 2010. He led the Kats and ranked fourth in the Southland Conference with a .376 batting average, totaling 79 hits with 15 doubles, one triple and seven home runs.
Andreas finished the 2011 season with a 26-game hitting streak, the third longest in Sam Houston State history and the sixth longest in the Southland record book.
Two-time All-Southland Conference infielder Braeden Riley has led the league in total hits each of the past two years with 91 as a junior in 2010 and a Southland Conference and school record 111 in 2009. Riley's sophomore total was the best in the nation in NCAA Division I baseball. The senior three-year letterman needs 48 more hits to become the Bearkats all-time leader in total career hits.
Two-time Academic All-Southland Conference infielder Ryan Mooney holds a 3.35 grade point average as business major. The two-year starter and three-year letterman has totaled 141 hits and .301 career batting average in 119 games in his three seasons.
Senior pitcher Matt Shelton was the "Most Valuable Player" at the 2009 Southland Conference post-season tournament in Corpus Christi. Shelton was winning pitcher in relief in 2009 tournament victories over UTSA and Texas State (in the finals). Shelton will be the starter for the Bearkats in the first game of the Tulane series Friday.
"Our guys have come in and worked hard during preseason," Johnson siad. "We have a lot of good freshman on the team who have worked their way up and are really proving themselves. "
Sam Houston plays its first home game Tuesday night, Feb. 22, when the Bearkats host Houston Baptist at 6:30 p.m. at Don Sanders Stadium. Next action for the team is the Sam Houston baseball invitational tournament Friday through Sunday, Feb. 25-27.
Tickets for all Bearkat home baseball games are on sale now online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets or at the SHSU ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone number is 936 294-1729.
