50 Cent Hot Dog Night Tuesday
4/22/2013 4:17:00 PM | Baseball
Sam Houston State baseball will face former Southland foe, Texas-Arlington, Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Don Sanders Stadium. It will be “50 cent hot dog night” at The Don and there will be free t-shirts for the first 500 students in attendance.
The Bearkats (23-17, 9-6) won three out of five games last week, including an extra-inning win over Texas A&M Tuesday at home. Oral Roberts took two-of-three from SHSU over the weekend and knocked the Kats out of a tie for first.
The Mavericks (21-18, 10-5) are second in the Western Athletic Conference but dropped two-of-three to Seattle University last weekend. UTA is just 1-6 in Tuesday games this season.
PROBABLE STARTERS
RHP Tyler Eppler (3-2, 3.86 ERA) vs. RHP Brent Bollinger (1-0, 4.50 ERA)
Designated hitter Hayden Simerly had a huge week at the plate. The sophomore blasted two homeruns and drove in nine runs in five games. Simerly had a three-run homer in the Kats win over Texas A&M and a solo homer in Sunday's win over ORU. He leads the team with six homers.
Third baseman Kevin Miller leads the team in hitting with a .358 average and 53 hits. The senior is a singles machine with three of his 53 hits for extra-bases. He's tied for the team lead with 27 runs scored.
Brooks Wallace Award quarterfinalist Carter Burgess has a .312 batting average with 49 hits and 27 runs scored.
Midweek starter Tyler Eppler has pitched extremely well this season with wins over Texas, Rice, and Houston this season. Eppler pitched five innings and allowed four runs against Texas A&M but didn't factor in the decision.
Texas-Arlington DH Matthew Shortall has the team lead in most offensive categories. He's batting .359 with 55 hits, 14 doubles, three homers, and 38 RBI. Shortstop Ryan Walker is batting .314 with 50 hits, 28 runs scored, and 19 runs batted in.
The backend of the UTA bullpen has been a handled by a number of pitchers. Five different relievers have recorded a save this season with Chad Nack leading the way with three. Tuesday's starter, Bollinger has registered a save this season.
Sam Houston State is on the road at Northwestern State for the upcoming weekend series.
