Finals appearance highlights stellar season
6/4/2012 7:28:00 AM | Baseball
All the Bearkats wanted to do was find a way to make the regional tournament go another day.
If they could beat both Rice and Arkansas in the NCAA's Houston Regional, they would have liked their chances in a winner-take-all game against the Razorbacks.
Sam Houston accomplished half of that equation Sunday at Reckling Park.
After coming up big in the clutch with a 4-1 victory over Rice, knocking out the host Owls, the Bearkats got to the championship round of the Houston Regional, but ran out of gas against the Razorbacks.
Due to several errors in the early going, Sam Houston fell behind and could never overcome the deficit, dropping a 5-1 decision to Arkansas on Sunday night that ended the Kats' season.
"It was a great season for us. Our kids played hard all year. (I'm) very proud of them," Sam Houston head coach David Pierce said. "The unfortunate thing is once you get to the postseason, if you don't win the national championship, you lose the last game. We're very proud of what we've done, very proud of the kids. Today just didn't work out for us, especially defensively."
Knowing that the only way to force a deciding game, the Kats, who had played in mid-90-degree heat since Friday, had to way find a way to get to Arkansas' pitching staff. In two regional games, the Razorbacks had yet to give up an earned run in a 5-4 victory over Sam Houston and a 1-0 win over Rice.
With their No. 4 starter, sophomore Cody Dickson on the hill, the Bearkats could not afford any defensive miscues, and those came in bunches Sunday night.
In the first inning, Arkansas first baseman Dominic Ficociello singled up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Sam Houston (40-22 overall) had a chance to get out of the inning on a grounder by right fielder Brian Anderson, but the throw from freshman shortstop Corey Toups sailed past first baseman Ryan O'Hearn that not only extended the inning, but allowed to Ficociello to score.
The Razorbacks (42-19) plated another run in the inning to take a 2-0 edge before the Kats even got to take a swing.
Arkansas got plenty of contact on Dickson's pitches and extended its lead to 3-0.
"We knew we had to score anyways. We were deep into our (pitching) staff, so we knew we were going to have to score," said Sam Houston senior catcher John Hale of trailing Arkansas from the get-go. "We weren't really out of it after the first inning."
Another throwing error by Toups in the fourth allowed the leadoff batter, left fielder Derrick Bleeker, to get to second. Bleeker later scored on a sacrifice fly by catcher Jake Wise.
While the Razorbacks were expanding their lead bit by bit, Arkansas pitchers Randall Fant and Nolan Sanburn (4-1) took advantage of the visibly exhausted Bearkats.
Fant spread four hits over 4 1/3 innings, while Sanburn pitched a perfect 2 2/3 innings.
"I feel like they did battle pretty good, but playing two games in the 95-degree heat is going to take a toll on you," Fant said. "It's what we did last year (in the Tempe Regional), so I did feel like they were a little tired. But I still wanted to keep the same approach, attack the hitters. I knew if I got ahead of them and we got a good lead, there was a pretty good chance we were going to win."
Arkansas scored again to take a sizeable 5-0 lead late in the game.
Sam Houston didn't go down without a fight, though.
Left with just a few outs to go, the Bearkats finally started to piece together some offense in the eighth.
Senior Jordan Bunch, who was a defensive replacement for O'Hearn in the top of the inning, kicked off the Kats' next-to-last gasp with a single up the middle. After two consecutive outs, the Kats finally brought in a run as replacement shortstop Tim Redden drilled a liner that shortstop Tim Carver couldn't get to and Bunch came around to score.
With a little momentum in its pocket, Sam Houston had a chance to break out for a big inning with a pair of runners on base and make a game of it. That turned out not to be the case as left fielder Luke Plucheck flew out to end the threat.
Sam Houston reliever Andrew Godail got through a three-up, three-down inning to give the Kats one last chance.
Even with the heart of their lineup up, the Bearkats couldn't get anything going as they were retired in order to end the game.
In order to reach the championship round, the Bearkats faced a tall order in trying to knock off Rice in its own stadium in an elimination game.
To even have a chance, Sam Houston needed to bring its A game as the Owls (41-19) trotted out one of their top pitchers, senior right-hander Matthew Reckling (8-3).
Sam Houston senior Michael Oros (8-1), who had defeated Rice at Reckling Park in a midweek game earlier this season, was called upon for a repeat performance.
"I was trying to keep the ball down and away and then come in and put them away. Basically, I was just trying to throw secondary pitches for strikes as well as the fastball," Oros said after throwing eight strong innings in the middle of the afternoon.
The Owls looked to make Oros press early as they found a way to load the bases with a walk, an error and a two-out single by center fielder Michael Fuda in the top of the first. Instead, Oros calmly ended the threat without any damage after getting left fielder Michael Ratterree to fly out to center field.
Neither team was able to produce much offense over the next few innings as both starting pitchers were held opposing batters in check.
It wasn't until the bottom of the third that the first run was put on the board.
Thanks to a leadoff single by Toups, Sam Houston's No. 9 hitter, who also swiped second base, the Kats were able to take a 1-0 edge. After a groundout advanced Toups to third, Pluchceck was able to drive him in on a hard-hit ball that resulted in an error on second baseman Christian Stringer.
The Bearkats doubled their lead the next inning as center fielder Colt Atwood hit a liner toward the right side of the infield. Stringer attempted to snare the ball into his glove, but couldn't move into position fast enough and the ball deflected off the outside of his glove and into right field.
Through the first four innings, Oros had managed to hold Rice to just two hits. He couldn't keep Rice down for long and the Owls started to get the offense going midway through the game.
After a leadoff out in the fifth, Stringer and designated hitter J.T. Chargois connected for back-to-back singles. That set the table for right fielder Jeremy Rathjen, who launched a pitch to the left-field wall.
Plucheck gave chase and nearly snagged the ball at the warning track, but it hit off his glove and kicked away as a run came in. Plucheck ran the ball down and quickly fired the ball to Toups, who lasered it into Hale. Hale caught the ball and quickly swiped at Chargois, who banged into the Bearkats catcher but was out at the plate.
"Hitting's contagious in baseball. You see it all the time," Rathjen said. "We got a couple of hits and some momentum, but it didn't work out for us."
As the game moved along, Sam Houston was still holding onto its slight 2-1 advantage, thanks to the steady pitching of Oros, who limited Rice to eight hits over eight innings with six strikeouts.
With the bottom of the order coming up in the eighth, the Kats wanted to give their pitcher a little bit of cushion in the ninth against a desperate group of Owls.
The Bearkats delivered in a big way.
Hale led off the inning with a double down the right-field line that bounced into the Sam Houston bullpen. Trying to sacrifice Hale over to third, second baseman Jessie Plumlee laid down a bunt along the third-base line. The ball hugged the infield grass and stayed fair the whole way.
The Bearkats loaded the bases as Atwood was intentionally walked. With two outs, designated hitter Anthony Azar ripped the first pitch he saw off the glove of shortstop Ford Stainback, which allowed a pair of runs to come in and Sam Houston was able to stretch its lead to 4-1.
"It was awesome. You always like to get more than one run, especially in the last inning with a good ballclub," Hale said. "We were fortunate to get some more runs in that last inning."
With a three-run advantage, Pierce went to junior Michael Burchett out of the bullpen. Knowing that the Kats were just three outs away from surviving for another game, Burchett retired the top of the Owls lineup in order.
The Razorbacks now advance to the super regionals and they'll face either Baylor or Dallas Baptist. The Bears and the Patriots play a winner-take-all game today for the super regional spot against Arkansas.
If they could beat both Rice and Arkansas in the NCAA's Houston Regional, they would have liked their chances in a winner-take-all game against the Razorbacks.
Sam Houston accomplished half of that equation Sunday at Reckling Park.
After coming up big in the clutch with a 4-1 victory over Rice, knocking out the host Owls, the Bearkats got to the championship round of the Houston Regional, but ran out of gas against the Razorbacks.
Due to several errors in the early going, Sam Houston fell behind and could never overcome the deficit, dropping a 5-1 decision to Arkansas on Sunday night that ended the Kats' season.
"It was a great season for us. Our kids played hard all year. (I'm) very proud of them," Sam Houston head coach David Pierce said. "The unfortunate thing is once you get to the postseason, if you don't win the national championship, you lose the last game. We're very proud of what we've done, very proud of the kids. Today just didn't work out for us, especially defensively."
Knowing that the only way to force a deciding game, the Kats, who had played in mid-90-degree heat since Friday, had to way find a way to get to Arkansas' pitching staff. In two regional games, the Razorbacks had yet to give up an earned run in a 5-4 victory over Sam Houston and a 1-0 win over Rice.
With their No. 4 starter, sophomore Cody Dickson on the hill, the Bearkats could not afford any defensive miscues, and those came in bunches Sunday night.
In the first inning, Arkansas first baseman Dominic Ficociello singled up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Sam Houston (40-22 overall) had a chance to get out of the inning on a grounder by right fielder Brian Anderson, but the throw from freshman shortstop Corey Toups sailed past first baseman Ryan O'Hearn that not only extended the inning, but allowed to Ficociello to score.
The Razorbacks (42-19) plated another run in the inning to take a 2-0 edge before the Kats even got to take a swing.
Arkansas got plenty of contact on Dickson's pitches and extended its lead to 3-0.
"We knew we had to score anyways. We were deep into our (pitching) staff, so we knew we were going to have to score," said Sam Houston senior catcher John Hale of trailing Arkansas from the get-go. "We weren't really out of it after the first inning."
Another throwing error by Toups in the fourth allowed the leadoff batter, left fielder Derrick Bleeker, to get to second. Bleeker later scored on a sacrifice fly by catcher Jake Wise.
While the Razorbacks were expanding their lead bit by bit, Arkansas pitchers Randall Fant and Nolan Sanburn (4-1) took advantage of the visibly exhausted Bearkats.
Fant spread four hits over 4 1/3 innings, while Sanburn pitched a perfect 2 2/3 innings.
"I feel like they did battle pretty good, but playing two games in the 95-degree heat is going to take a toll on you," Fant said. "It's what we did last year (in the Tempe Regional), so I did feel like they were a little tired. But I still wanted to keep the same approach, attack the hitters. I knew if I got ahead of them and we got a good lead, there was a pretty good chance we were going to win."
Arkansas scored again to take a sizeable 5-0 lead late in the game.
Sam Houston didn't go down without a fight, though.
Left with just a few outs to go, the Bearkats finally started to piece together some offense in the eighth.
Senior Jordan Bunch, who was a defensive replacement for O'Hearn in the top of the inning, kicked off the Kats' next-to-last gasp with a single up the middle. After two consecutive outs, the Kats finally brought in a run as replacement shortstop Tim Redden drilled a liner that shortstop Tim Carver couldn't get to and Bunch came around to score.
With a little momentum in its pocket, Sam Houston had a chance to break out for a big inning with a pair of runners on base and make a game of it. That turned out not to be the case as left fielder Luke Plucheck flew out to end the threat.
Sam Houston reliever Andrew Godail got through a three-up, three-down inning to give the Kats one last chance.
Even with the heart of their lineup up, the Bearkats couldn't get anything going as they were retired in order to end the game.
In order to reach the championship round, the Bearkats faced a tall order in trying to knock off Rice in its own stadium in an elimination game.
To even have a chance, Sam Houston needed to bring its A game as the Owls (41-19) trotted out one of their top pitchers, senior right-hander Matthew Reckling (8-3).
Sam Houston senior Michael Oros (8-1), who had defeated Rice at Reckling Park in a midweek game earlier this season, was called upon for a repeat performance.
"I was trying to keep the ball down and away and then come in and put them away. Basically, I was just trying to throw secondary pitches for strikes as well as the fastball," Oros said after throwing eight strong innings in the middle of the afternoon.
The Owls looked to make Oros press early as they found a way to load the bases with a walk, an error and a two-out single by center fielder Michael Fuda in the top of the first. Instead, Oros calmly ended the threat without any damage after getting left fielder Michael Ratterree to fly out to center field.
Neither team was able to produce much offense over the next few innings as both starting pitchers were held opposing batters in check.
It wasn't until the bottom of the third that the first run was put on the board.
Thanks to a leadoff single by Toups, Sam Houston's No. 9 hitter, who also swiped second base, the Kats were able to take a 1-0 edge. After a groundout advanced Toups to third, Pluchceck was able to drive him in on a hard-hit ball that resulted in an error on second baseman Christian Stringer.
The Bearkats doubled their lead the next inning as center fielder Colt Atwood hit a liner toward the right side of the infield. Stringer attempted to snare the ball into his glove, but couldn't move into position fast enough and the ball deflected off the outside of his glove and into right field.
Through the first four innings, Oros had managed to hold Rice to just two hits. He couldn't keep Rice down for long and the Owls started to get the offense going midway through the game.
After a leadoff out in the fifth, Stringer and designated hitter J.T. Chargois connected for back-to-back singles. That set the table for right fielder Jeremy Rathjen, who launched a pitch to the left-field wall.
Plucheck gave chase and nearly snagged the ball at the warning track, but it hit off his glove and kicked away as a run came in. Plucheck ran the ball down and quickly fired the ball to Toups, who lasered it into Hale. Hale caught the ball and quickly swiped at Chargois, who banged into the Bearkats catcher but was out at the plate.
"Hitting's contagious in baseball. You see it all the time," Rathjen said. "We got a couple of hits and some momentum, but it didn't work out for us."
As the game moved along, Sam Houston was still holding onto its slight 2-1 advantage, thanks to the steady pitching of Oros, who limited Rice to eight hits over eight innings with six strikeouts.
With the bottom of the order coming up in the eighth, the Kats wanted to give their pitcher a little bit of cushion in the ninth against a desperate group of Owls.
The Bearkats delivered in a big way.
Hale led off the inning with a double down the right-field line that bounced into the Sam Houston bullpen. Trying to sacrifice Hale over to third, second baseman Jessie Plumlee laid down a bunt along the third-base line. The ball hugged the infield grass and stayed fair the whole way.
The Bearkats loaded the bases as Atwood was intentionally walked. With two outs, designated hitter Anthony Azar ripped the first pitch he saw off the glove of shortstop Ford Stainback, which allowed a pair of runs to come in and Sam Houston was able to stretch its lead to 4-1.
"It was awesome. You always like to get more than one run, especially in the last inning with a good ballclub," Hale said. "We were fortunate to get some more runs in that last inning."
With a three-run advantage, Pierce went to junior Michael Burchett out of the bullpen. Knowing that the Kats were just three outs away from surviving for another game, Burchett retired the top of the Owls lineup in order.
The Razorbacks now advance to the super regionals and they'll face either Baylor or Dallas Baptist. The Bears and the Patriots play a winner-take-all game today for the super regional spot against Arkansas.
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