SHSU Baseball Hosts SFA
4/30/2014 5:36:00 PM | Baseball
Sam Houston hosts Stephen F. Austin in another crucial three-game series at Don Sanders Stadium. The series gets underway Friday at 6:30 p.m., continues Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and concludes Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
Every remaining game is huge for the Sam Houston State baseball team in search of its third consecutive Southland title. The Bearkats (31-14, 13-8 SLC) sit two games back of first place with nine league games left to play.
The Kats have won their last five games and have had to come from behind in every one. SHSU had to rally from a pair of one-run deficits to scratch out the win over No. 12 Houston and against Baylor the Kats had to recover from two runs in the first inning. Southeastern Louisiana scored first in every game of the Kats sweep of the Lions.
“I think more than anything I feel like we are playing the entire game,” head coach David Pierce said of his team's ability to come-from-behind. “The unfortunate side of that is that we're getting behind early but the good side of it is that we're continuing to fight throughout the game.”
Two Bearkat relief pitchers have emerged as key pieces out of the bullpen. Sophomore Ryan Brinley has recorded six saves this season, all in his last nine appearances. Brinley has closed out the last three Bearkat wins and four of the last five. He hasn't given up a run in his last 8 2/3 innings pitched.
Junior Nolan Riggs has been excellent as a middle reliever of late and has a scoreless streak of 10 1/3 innings spread over four outings. Riggs has lowered his ERA from 5.79 to 1.80 in just two weeks.
SFA is led offensively by Mackenzie Handel who is batting .340 with 41 RBI and 10 home runs. Handel's RBI and homer totals are tops in the Southland. The senior is the only SFA player batting over .300 this season.
Dillon Mangham has been the most consistent starter on the Lumberjack pitching staff with a 6-4 record and a 2.54 earned run average. The junior lefthander has tossed two complete games this season and logged 67 1/3 innings.
The first 400 fans in attendance at Saturday's game will receive a free t-shirt courtesy of Gateway at Huntsville.
