Having lots of fun
3/11/2011 7:09:00 AM | Baseball
The Bearkats could not have asked for a better start to the season.
After losing a tight season-opening series to Tulane, Sam Houston has rattled off 10 straight victories, picking up wins over Nebraska, Michigan and most recently, a 7-0 triumph over 18th-ranked Rice in Houston on Tuesday.
Everything seems to be going the Kats' way, to say the least, and now it's time to kick off their conference slate.
"Especially after last year, having a winning streak, this is a lot of fun. We're enjoying it," sophomore outfielder Greg Olson said. "This is what we work for all year. Starting out the year, we weren't quite sure who we were yet. I think we figured that out pretty quickly, and once you get rolling, it becomes second nature."
The Bearkats (11-2 overall) get back to business today as they open their Southland Conference schedule against UT-Arlington in the first of a three-game series at 6:30 p.m. at Don Sanders Stadium.
Between consistent pitching, timely hitting, solid defense and aggressive baserunning, the Bearkats have been doing everything needed to come away with wins over the last two and a half weeks.
During Sam Houston's winning streak, the Kats have averaged more than 13 hits and scored nearly 10 runs per game.
"In baseball, it's pretty well-known that hitting is contagious," said Olson, who is currently batting .450.
"When you've got guys at the top, (Braeden) Riley and (Ryan) Mooney, who can set the table, it kind of helps us ease into the game and really gets us going. When one guy's doing well, it helps out everyone."
Not only have the Bearkats been able to get on base often, but they have made baserunning, especially stealing bases, a vital part of their identity.
SHSU has stolen 37 bases thus far, including Mooney who has a team-leading 14 swipes in 14 tries.
"Our overall mentality is to try to do anything to take something away from our opponent, whether it's a ball in the dirt or taking a base on a sac fly," Olson said. "Anything we can do to take that extra base, we're going to do it and continue to do it until they consistently show us they can shut it down."
The pitching staff has also provided consistency from the starting rotation to the bullpen. Strong outings from starters Matt Shelton (2-0), who is scheduled to pitch today against UT-Arlington's Lance Day (1-2), Brent Powers (2-0) and Brandon Kimbrel (1-0) have gone a long way toward getting the Kats out to an impressive start to the season.
"Looking at the teams we've played, you may think that we're not playing a real good-hitting ballclub and then you look and they're scoring 10 runs against other people," SHSU head coach Mark Johnson said. "When you start looking at it, you realize that we're looking pretty good on the mound. I think we've got a good group of pitchers.
"I think right now, pitching and defense are the keys obviously. We are pitching well and we're playing very well defensively."
Though the Mavericks have just a 6-6 record, they have been on a roll lately, winning four of their last five games. UT-Arlington's four-game winning streak came to an end Tuesday with a 7-3 loss to seventh-ranked TCU.
"They've got good numbers. It can be hard to compare because they haven't played Michigan or Nebraska and we haven't played some of the teams they've played," Johnson said.
"If you look at the stats, hitting and throwing and fielding, there's reason for them to believe that they're pretty good, too."
The Kats know that while their winning streak has helped build confidence, beginning conference play on a winning note would hold far more weight.
"I think just overall, we have a mentality that we come out with that we are going to win," Olson added. "We're looking forward to UTA coming in here. We're hot right now and that's how you want to be coming into conference.
"This is conference now, so these do count. We just want to stay hot and start things off right."
Tickets for Sam Houston home baseball games are on sale now online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets or at the SHSU athletic 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 is (936) 294-1729.
