Tigers visit Tuesday
5/2/2011 3:11:00 PM | Baseball
Sam Houston, a team that has lost five of its last eight games over the past two weeks, plays host to a red-hot Texas Southern squad that was won six of its last seven in the final non-conference mid-week game of the 2011 baseball season at Don Sanders Stadium.
The Tigers defeated Sam Houston 8-6 two weeks ago in Houston in the pair's previous meeting this year.
The Bearkats are seeking to build momentum as they enter the final three weeks of the regular season. Sam Houston stands in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Southland Conference. The Kats, UT-Arlington and UTSA all own 13-11 league marks. Sam Houston stands 29-17 overall for the season.
Stephen F. Austin and Texas State are tied for first place, both at 17-7. Southeastern Louisiana, which took two of three games from SHSU at Don Sanders Stadium last weekend, is in third place with a 14-10 mark.
The top eight teams in the final regular season baseball standings earn berths in the Southland post-season tournament to be held in San Marcos May 25-28. Sam Houston will complete conference action with three game road series at Stephen F. Austin and Central Arkansas the end two weekends and a home series with A&M-Corpus Christi May 19-21.
The TAMUCC series will mark head coach Mark Johnson's farewell appearance at Sanders Stadium. The 44th coach in NCAA Division I history to post more than 1,000 career victories is retiring at the end of the 2011 season. Johnson will be honored in a special pregame ceremony on Friday, May 20. First pitch for the game is at 6:30 p.m.
Texas Southen brings a 20-22 record into Tuesday's tilt. Anthony Flenoy leads the Tigers with a .364 average.
Ryan Mooney (.347), Chris Andreas (.345), Greg Olson (.316), Mark Hudson (.314) and Braeden Riley (.306) lead a Sam Houston team that currently owns a .298 team batting average.
Tickets for Sam Houston's Tuesday game and the Coach Mark Johnson farewell Southland series (May 19-21 vs. TAMUCC) are available on line now 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.
