Kats face Islanders in Southland First Round
5/19/2012 8:09:00 PM | Baseball
Sam Houston State will play No. 8 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 12 noon Wednesday in the first round of the 2012 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament.
The Bearkats are the No. 1 seed in the Southland tournament for the first time in the 20-year history of the event. Sam Houston's previous highest seed was No. 2 in 1994.
Sam Houston rolled up a 24-9 Southland record to earn its first Southland Conference regular season championship since 1989 (the Kats' second year in the league). The 24 victories ties the record for most Southland victories in one season set by Texas State and UTSA.
Only twice in the 19-year modern history of the tournament, which decides the Southland's representative to the 2012 NCAA Regionals, has the No. 1 seed won the event.
Sam Houston and Texas State hold the most tournament totals in league history with four apiece.
The Bearkats won in 1996 in Shreveport, La., 2007 in Natchitoches, La., 2008 in Huntsville and 2009 in Corpus Christi. Sam Houston was seeded fourth in 1996, 2007 and 2008 and seventh in 2009 (to become the lowest seed ever to win the event).
Texas State won the tournament on their home field last year. Sam Houston defeated Southeastern Louisiana 12-0 in the first round to extent the Bearkats' league record tournament win streak to 13 but fell to Nicholls 4-1 and Texas State 13-2 in the next two rounds.
Sam Houston took two of three games from A&M-Corpus Christi in the Bearkats league series with the Islanders April 27-29 in Huntsville. The Bearkats lost the series opener 5-2 but bounced back for 8-7 and 6-3 wins.
Live audio broadcasts of Sam Houston's games in the tournament will be streamed on www.gobearkats.com . The entire 2012 Southland Baseball Tournament up until the championship game will be streamed live for free on SLC NOW, available at www.southland.org .
The championship game of the tournament will be available exclusively on ESPN3.
Complete 2012 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament pairings:
Wednesday, May 23
Game 1: No. 5 McNeese State vs. No. 4 UT Arlington, 9 a.m.
Game 2: No. 8 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. No. 1 Sam Houston State, Noon
Game 3: No. 6 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 3 Texas State, 4 p.m.
Game 4: No. 7 Central Arkansas vs. No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana, 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 24
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 9 a.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 12 noon
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 4 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7 p.m.
Friday, May 25
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 7, 9 a.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 8, 12 noon
Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, 4 p.m.
Game 12: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 10, 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 26
Game 13: (If winner of Game 9 also wins Game 11)
Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 11, 9 a.m.
Game 14: (If winner of Game 10 also wins Game 12)
Loser Game 12 vs. Winner Game 12, 1 p.m.
If both bracket winners are undefeated, the championship game will be played Saturday at 1 p.m.
If either Game 13 or 14 is necessary, championship game will start at 5 p.m.
Times are approximate. There will be a minimum of 45 minutes between games on Wednesday and 30 minutes the remainder of the weekend with no game starting prior to its scheduled time.
Tickets for the tournament are available online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets .
