Softball Opens 2013 Campaign Thursday
2/6/2013 9:31:00 AM | Softball
The Sam Houston softball team begins its 2013 campaign Thursday as the Bearkats take on Illinois State at 3:30 p.m. in the first game of this weekend's Baylor Bear Invitational.
The softball team will play four more contests in the tournament, facing Northern Illinois Friday and Baylor, Illinois State and Northern Illinois on Saturday.
Sam Houston opens its home schedule at the Bearkat Softball Complex on Wednesday, Feb. 13 against Texas A&M at 5 p.m.
The Bearkats return 12 of 15 letter winners from last year's squad that rolled up a 29-21 record, finished as Southland Conference regular season runner-up with a 14-6 league mark and reached the finals of the Southland post-season tournament for the fourth time in the university's 25 years in the league.
Sam Houston State has been picked to win the 2013 Southland Conference softball title in the annual preseason poll of the league's head coaches.
The Bearkats received seven first-place votes from the coaches and 78 total points.
Key returners for the Bearkats feature include first baseman Kim Damian, a senior from Angleton, Texas; third baseman Shelbi Tucker, a senior from Montgomery, Texas; catcher Hillary Adams, a sophomore from Elgin, Texas; and outfielder Tori Benavidez, a senior from Midlothian, Texas.
"The girls are excited about getting the season started," head coach Bob Brock said. "We've added some new freshman players that will help and we have great group of returning players."
On April 18, 2012, in a Sam Houston road doubleheader victory, Brock reached a career milestone as the 15th head coach in NCAA Division I softball history to amass 1,000 victories.
Brock now ranks 11th among NCAA Division I active softball head coaches with a record of 1,010 victories, 607 losses and one tie in his 27 seasons at Sam Houston, Texas A&M, and Baylor. He has won three national championships and is a former Women's Professional Fastpitch League head coach.
Now in his 11th season at his alma mater, Brock ranks as the Bearkat softball program's "winningest" head coach with 279 victories at Sam Houston. The Kats were Southland Conference regular season runners-up in 2005, 2007 and 2012 and won the Southland post-season tournament in 2007.
The 2012 Sam Houston softball team achieved one of the most remarkable "turn-arounds" in Southland history. The Bearkats started the year 0-13. The team regrouped to win 26 of its next 30 games and enter the regular season's final weekend with a shot at the league championship.
