Kats picked to win fourth straight title
1/28/2015 3:04:00 PM | Baseball
Sam Houston State has been selected to win an unprecedented fourth consecutive Southland Conference baseball title by a vote of the league's head coaches and sports information directors, the conference announced Wednesday.
The Bearkats are hoping to be the first team in Southland history to win four consecutive conference championships. Only four other teams have won three straight Southland baseball titles – Trinity (1964-66), Lamar (1975-77), Northwestern State (1993-95) and Texas State (2008-10).
The overwhelming favorite in the both the coaches' and SID polls, the Kats received eight first-place votes in each. Sam Houston returns 16 letterwinners, five starters and nine pitchers from a Bearkat squad that won its third consecutive regular-season title and advanced to an NCAA regional for the sixth time in eight years.
Among the returning players are 2014 first-team all-conference selections, senior outfielders Colt Atwood and Hayden Simerly. Sam Houston, which finished the 2014 season with a 43-19 overall record, went 22-8 in conference play, recording its third consecutive 20-win season in conference.
The bar has been set high for a new coaching staff, led by head coach Matt Deggs, and a squad that lost four seniors to graduation and five juniors to professional baseball.
The coaches and SIDs were in agreement on the predicted finish of the top four teams, as well as the order of the final six places. SHSU is followed by A&M-Corpus Christi, Southeastern Louisiana and Northwestern State. The coaches picked Nicholls fifth, McNeese State sixth and Central Arkansas seventh, while the SIDs predict a fifth place finish for McNeese State, sixth for Central Arkansas and seventh for Nicholls.
The Bearkats open the season at home, Feb. 13, against the seven-time College World Series participants Wichita State. Southland play begins March 6 against New Orleans at Don Sanders Stadium. The Southland Conference tournament will be played May 20-23 at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas.
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Coaches |
|
|
|||||
|
Rk. |
University (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
|||||
|
1. |
Sam Houston State (8) |
138 |
|||||
|
2. |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (4) |
128 |
|||||
|
3. |
Southeastern Louisiana (1) |
115 |
|||||
|
4. |
Northwestern State |
109 |
|||||
|
5. |
Nicholls |
98 |
|||||
|
6. |
McNeese State |
90 |
|||||
|
7. |
Central Arkansas |
89 |
|||||
|
8. |
Lamar |
77 |
|||||
|
9. |
Stephen F. Austin |
49 |
|||||
|
10. |
Houston Baptist |
48 |
|||||
|
11. |
Abilene Christian |
27 |
|||||
|
12. |
UIW |
26 |
|||||
|
13. |
New Orleans |
20 |
|||||
|
Sports Information Directors |
|
|
|||||
|
Rk. |
University (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
|||||
|
1. |
Sam Houston State (8) |
137 |
|||||
|
2. |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (2) |
130 |
|||||
|
3. |
Southeastern Louisiana (1) |
119 |
|||||
|
4. |
Northwestern State (2) |
108 |
|||||
|
5. |
McNeese State |
91 |
|||||
|
6. |
Central Arkansas |
90 |
|||||
|
7. |
Nicholls |
85 |
|||||
|
8. |
Lamar |
79 |
|||||
|
9. |
Stephen F. Austin |
52 |
|||||
|
10. |
Houston Baptist |
50 |
|||||
|
11. |
Abilene Christian |
28 |
|||||
|
12. |
UIW |
26 |
|||||
|
13. |
New Orleans |
20 |
|||||
