First place Lions in town
4/24/2014 4:02:00 PM | Baseball
Fresh off of a 5-4 win over No. 12 Houston, the Sam Houston State baseball team will host the league-leading Southeastern Louisiana Lions for a three-game series this weekend at Don Sanders Stadium.
The series gets underway Friday at 6:30 p.m. and continues with a 4:00 p.m. game Saturday. Sunday is “Kids Free Day” at the ballpark and first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. There will be a postgame autograph session and kids will have the opportunity to run the bases.
Just two games separate the top eight teams in the conference. Two teams join Southeastern Louisiana at the top of the Southland Standings with a 12-6 record while four other teams share the same 10-8 league record as Sam Houston.
Run production has come from all over this season. Nine Kats have driven in at least 10 runs while Anthony Azar has the team lead with 32. Colt Atwood (30), Ryan O'Hearn (28), Carter Burgess (21), Hayden Simerly (20), Corey Toups (17), Ryan Farney (15), Luke Plucheck (15) and Shea Pierce (13) are the others.
Sam Houston's staff earned run average took a hit after allowing 31 total runs in the last four games. The team ERA has risen just over half a point from 2.53 to 3.06. Ryan Brinley though has picked up a pair of saves in his last two outings.
The Lions dropped a midweek contest, 12-6, at Jackson State after sweeping New Orleans last weekend. Southeastern committed four errors and allowed six unearned runs to score.
Catcher and first baseman Jameson Fisher leads the club offensively with a .349 batting average and 33 runs scored. He is second on the team with 52 hits and nine doubles. Outfielder Andrew Godbold leads the team with 53 hits and 39 runs driven in.
Southeastern Louisiana has a team ERA of 2.78 and starter Andro Cutura has a 1.74 ERA with seven wins and 76 strikeouts in 72 1/3 innings. Mason Klotz leads the team with four saves and a 1.00 ERA.
SHSU has a narrow 32-30 advantage in the all-time series with Southeastern Louisiana. The two teams split four games last season with the Kats taking two in the regular season. The Lions eliminated Sam Houston from the Southland Tournament last season.
