UCA Bears Next Target for Bearkat Baseball
3/26/2015 4:09:00 PM | Baseball
Two of the three teams tied for third place in the young 2015 Southland Conference baseball race meet this weekend in a Southland Conference series between Sam Houston State and Central Arkansas.
The UCS Bears and the SHSU Bearkats tangle at 6 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at Bear Stadium in Conway, Arkansas.
Sam Houston (13-14, Southland 6-3) is coming off an 11-4 victory Wednesday over No. 14 Rice. Central Arkansas (12-7, Southland 6-3) pounded out 16 hits in a 15-3 run-rule win against Arkansas-Little Rock the same evening.
Both teams come into the weekend one game out of first place in the Southland. Southeastern Louisiana leads the league race with a 7-2 mark. Northwestern State is in second place with a 6-2 slate. Sam Houston, UCA and McNeese all are tied for third with identical 6-3 records.
Sam Houston has won five of its last eight games. The victories have included wins over first place Northwestern State in Natchitoches, Baylor in Waco and Wednesday against Rice in Huntsville.
Spence Rahm, who hit a three-run homer against Rice Wednesday, leads the Bearkats at the plate with a .349 average. Travis Lee (.347) is close behind but missed Wednesday's contest. Dylan Ebbs (.333), Collin Yelich (.310) and Zach Smith (.304) also sport strong batting averages. Miles Manning led the Kats at the plate in the Rice win going 3-for-5 with three RBIs.
Starting pitchers for the Bearkats will be Andrew Godail (1-3, 2.43 ERA) Friday, Logan Boyd (3-2, 3.03 ERA) Saturday and Hayden Nixon (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Sunday.
Sam Houston swept its opening Southland series with New Orleans, lost two of three at Northwestern State and won two-of-three with Nicholls in Huntsville last weekend.
Central Arkansas opened league play with a bang, sweeping both Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches and Lamar in Beaumont as part of a seven-game winning streak. Houston Baptist ended the streak with a three-game sweep of the Bears in Houston last weekend.
Doug Votolato is the Bears' top hitter with a .379 average. Nate Ferrell sports a .309 hitting mean. Starting pitchers for UCA are expected to be Connor Gilmore (7-3, 2.98 ERA), Brandon Hagerla (0-0, 0.00 ERA) and Riley Echols (1-2, 3.14 ERA).
The all-time series between the Bears and the Bearkats is tie at 12 victories apiece. UCA is 8-6 in games played in Conway.
