Keys to tournament success
5/24/2011 8:26:00 AM | Baseball
Save for last season, the Southland Conference baseball tournament has belonged to Sam Houston State. No matter that the Bearkats weren't one of the top three seeds, they swept their way to tournament titles and automatic berths into the NCAA Regionals in 2007, '08 and '09.
So to say that the Bearkats know a thing or two about preparing for the SLC tourney would be an understatement.
With the coaching staff of head coach Mark Johnson and assistant coaches Chris Berry and Jim Blair from Sam Houston's last two tournament titles in 2008 and '09 intact, along with several key players, the Kats know exactly what it's going to take to win four or five games and bring home another SLC championship trophy.
The Southland tournament begins Wednesday and fifth-seeded Sam Houston will have to survive a double-elimination pod of regular-season champ Texas State, No. 4 seed Southeastern Louisiana and eighth-seeded Nicholls to play for another title.
Knowing the task ahead, there are several key items that the Bearkats are going to have to accomplish if they are going to repeat their past successes.
No. 1: Staying in the winners' bracket
It may seem fairly obvious that in a tournament, staying ahead of other teams and not getting into the losers' bracket is the way to go.
Not only are elimination games avoided, but staying in the winner's bracket also puts less pressure on a team. Fewer games are played and in the case of Sam Houston's side of the bracket, the winner's bracket means playing night games and not having to beat the heat.
"I've seen teams in Omaha lose the first ball game and go on to win the national championship. What happens is with that extra game, teams can gain momentum," Johnson said.
"But in truth, the percentages go against you (if you fall into the losers' bracket) because you're using up more pitchers. Then you need somebody to pitch well who you weren't quite expecting to. I've seen that at every tournament I've been in, someone who wasn't a factor to start with becomes a factor in the tournament."
History backs up this philosophy. In the 18 years of the Southland tournament, 14 of the championship teams went through the winner's bracket undefeated. Only two first day losers have ever battled through the loser's bracket to take the crown.
No. 2: Starting pitchers throw deep into games
From playing anywhere between four and six games within a four-day span, the onus is on the starting pitching to have strong performances, especially early in tournament games. The Bearkats know this as well as any of the other teams in the SLC tournament.
In all three of their tournament championships, Sam Houston got strong, long starts from its pitching staff. In 2007, Jacob Howard threw 6 1/3 scoreless in SHSU's first round game against Texas State. In each of the next two tournaments, Dallas Gallant and Sean Weatherford, respectively, threw complete-game victories in the first round, allowing the Bearkats to save their bullpen for the rest of the tourney.
"We've had a couple of first-round complete games, which allow you to stockpile pitchers for the later rounds," Berry said. "It is important to save that pen if you can, but we also have the depth that if we get into it, we can survive it. You need quality deep starts if you want to make a deep run.
"All three of our starters are very accustomed to going deep into the game. Most of the time when we're winning or we're playing well, they'll have 7- or 8-inning starts. (Brandon) Kimbrel has thrown two complete games and Matt (Shelton) has thrown a couple of complete games."
No. 3: Getting clutch hits
Seldom does a tournament go by without having one of those clutch moments, whether it's a two-run single in the third inning or a walk-off home run. Along with having quality pitching, the Kats know that at some point they're going to need to come up with some big hits in key spots.
"In '07, Bobby Verbick hit a 3-0 pitch out of the yard to beat Texas State 2-0. We weren't doing anything offensively to that point. I felt that one swing carried us," Blair said. "Early in the tournament, one swing of the bat can give you all of the momentum. Those types of things are huge in this kind of setting."
No. 4: Strong defensive play
Not giving opposing teams free bases or extra outs is also crucial because those can come back and be especially costly, so the defense will have to be as sure-handed as it's been all season.
"The staples of baseball is what we've been doing basically. Our pitchers have been giving us a chance to win and our defense is fielding .973 and that's outstanding," Johnson said. "We've been playing good. I don't have any problem with our defense. We'll make some errors, but they don't seem to multiply.
"I think we've got enough maturity to withstand a bad defensive game and come back the next one."
No. 5: Good outings from bullpen
Considering that tournament games can be a grind, the last thing that teams want to worry about is giving up a late lead or claw back to within striking distance only to see the deficit increase. With solid performances from starters, having strong outings from relief pitchers can also be a big factor in whether or not a championship is won.
"One thing that allows you to have success in the tournament is flexibility in your bullpen. We very much have that with Paul (Spinn), Michael Burchett and Michael Oros," Berry said. "There's three guys who can go into a multitude of roles and that helps you mix and match against teams the deeper you go.
"The thing about tournament play is that somebody is going to come out of the woodwork and do something, number one, they haven't been asked to do and number two, you didn't expect them to do even if you ask them to. Especially if you get into the losers' bracket, somebody's going to have to step forward. Somebody's going to have to do something special."
No. 6: Smart baserunning
As important as pitching and hitting are, getting around the bases and running them intelligently is also vital.
"You hope that you get smarter on the bases. We practice it at practice," Johnson said.
"If you look at the first 15 to 20 ball games, we had a lot of pitchers throwing the ball into the dirt and we'd go to second base. Now, we're not getting those because pitchers aren't throwing the ball in the dirt anymore. We also got extra bases early on because there were fumbles in the outfield. Well, now there aren't any fumbles.
"That's just the reality of it. You just have to play smart and play relaxed and play for your moment."
No. 7: Maintain mental toughness
Playing in as many games in as many days as the tournament allows can add quite a toll, but being able to bounce back from early losses or rough games can make quite a difference when only a few teams remain alive.
"Probably the most important thing is for the guys to be prepared to be there for four days. Every winning team I've been on, the bus ride home has been very quiet. Guys are exhausted and mentally drained," Blair said.
"From a hitting standpoint, guys needed to mentally prepare themselves to be there for that amount of time. If we get kicked and we lose a game, that doesn't matter as long as you get to the last day. At that point, a lot of it has to do with mental fortitude and which team can really lock in and not get tired toward the end."
