Southland Opener
3/9/2012 6:58:00 AM | Baseball
Sam Houston State opens its 2012 Southland Conference campaign this weekend as the Bearkats play host to Stephen F. Austin in a three-game weekend series at Don Sanders Stadium.
While weather issues may play havoc with game times, the baseball team is eager to test themselves against a league foe.
The first game of the series is scheduled for first pitch at 6:30 Friday night.
"I think we're finding a little bit of chemistry now that we're 12 games into the season, which is good to see," junior second baseman Jessie Plumlee said Thursday afternoon.
In the three weeks of the season, the Bearkats have had a few ups and downs, but their recent play has them on a bit of a roll going into their conference opener, having won three of their past four games and winning the last two in come-from-behind fashion in the late innings.
In Sam Houston's series finale against UC Riverside on Sunday, junior outfielder Luke Plucheck led off the bottom of the eighth with a triple to the center-field wall. Then, sophomore catcher Anthony Azar drove him in on a one-out single up the middle for what was the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run.
Then on Tuesday, the Kats rallied again. Trailing 8-7 in the bottom of the ninth, Sam Houston tied the game up as Houston Baptist couldn't complete a game-ending double play. After retiring the Huskies in the top of the 10th without any runs on the board, Azar came up big again with a walk-off single, scoring freshman Colt Atwood from second base.
"I think it just makes us all tougher, just grinding it out as a team for one goal to win the game no matter how it is," Azar said of Sam Houston late-inning rallies the past two games that resulted in come-from-behind wins.
"It's just battling. That's all it is. At one point of the game, you're not going to have good hitting or good pitching, but you've got to work through it."
Stephen F. Austin (5-8 overall) started the season with losses in seven of its first eight games, but have since turned the corner a bit. The Lumberjacks have won four of their past five games, including a pair of wins in their series victory over South Alabama last weekend.
The Kats know that the Southland Conference race is a marathon with 11 weekends worth of league play, but they've gotten looser in their approaches at the plate.
Of the Bearkats in the starting lineup, four are hitting better than .300. Azar, who is a transfer from Texarkana College, leads the team with a .400 batting average. Freshman first baseman Ryan O'Hearn is hitting .359 with four doubles and four RBIs. Junior third baseman Kevin Miller, who was injured in Tuesday's game against the Huskies, boasts a .340 average and a team-leading 10 RBIs. Plucheck, who made it onto ESPN's SportsCenter with a diving grab on Sunday, is batting .317 with seven RBIs and three stolen bases.
"The thing that we've preached and want to see continue to happen is to play the entire game no matter if we're down 5-0 in the first or we're up 5-0 in the first," Sam Houston head coach David Pierce said. "Everything goes toward your approach and if you have a consistent approach, you give yourself the best chance to be successful. That's what we're preaching and we're seeing some results with guys who are staying with their plan."
Especially lately, the Bearkats (7-5) are gaining more and more confidence at the plate, which has resulted in the recent string of wins and some momentum going into today's Southland opener.
"I think, just mentally, it makes us tougher and more confident that we can get through those tough times," Azar said.
"We've seen our guys over and over again during the fall, so it's good to see other people's stuff to see how pitchers work against hitters," Plumlee said.
Sam Houston's pitching staff, for the most part, has been solid.
Starting pitchers Justin Jackson (2-1, 1.80 earned run average) and Cody Dickson (1-1, 1.12) have been especially strong on the mound, picking up wins in half of their combined starts. The bullpen has also had its bright moments, holding teams down after their starter gets chased from the game.
"It gives the starter a bit of confidence, like if he can pitch six or seven innings, the bullpen can come in and finish the game and save the ballgame," Jackson said. "It's just about getting ahead of hitters and throwing strikes and everything will work out."
Relievers Michael Hilliard, Michael Oros, Brandon Bergen, Michael Burchett, Taylor Holt, Andrew Godail and Allen Scott have a combined ERA of 3.85 in 51 1/3 innings of relief.
"I think what we're looking for is to get a little deeper into games with our starting pitching. We've probably got to do a better job with more consistency of inheriting runners and killing the damage out of the bullpen. We need to be a little more consistent there," Pierce said. "At times, we've been good and at times we've struggled."
The Bearkats are also making the most of their opportunities with the bulk of their position players and a few pitchers, who are all underclassmen. Four of the top eight hitters (Azar, O'Hearn, Plucheck, center fielder Colt Atwood and shortstop Corey Toups) are either freshmen or sophomores.
"We felt that Ryan O'Hearn could hit coming in and he's proven that he can hit. He's becoming better as a defender. He's seeing pitches that he hasn't seen in high school and he's hitting in the middle of the lineup and that's tough to do as a true freshman," Pierce said. "We've had some great production from Colt Atwood and Corey Toups, defensively, and at times has been offensive as well. Those three guys are the most consistent that we've seen out of the freshmen.
"We've gotten some help from the (designated hitter position) with Shea (Pierce). We got a big plug the other night when Kevin Miller went down and Ryan Farney was able to step in. At times, position-player wise, we've been pleased with the freshmen. At times, a kid like Andrew Godail has done well on the mound and Brandon Bergen has done well.
"We still have some work to do with everyone, but there's still some freshmen that have helped us continue to move closer to a championship."
While this weekend's series is just the start of a long conference season, Pierce's expectations for his squad is to simply just get a little more consistent.
"We approach it day-to-day. We try to put our best guys on the field, make routine plays, throw quality pitches and have quality at-bats," Pierce added. "Conference brings another level of your season."
