Tournament Time for Sam Houston Baseball
5/19/2015 6:00:00 PM | Baseball
SOUTHLAND BASEBALL TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
Sam Houston makes its 14th appearance in the Southland Conference baseball tournament when the Bearkats battle McNeese State in a first round game set for 7 p.m. Wednesday night.
The annual event which decides who will be the league's automatic qualifier for the NCAA baseball championships will be played during the next four days at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas.
The Bearkats have won the tournament title four times, taking the championship in 1996, 2007 and 2008 as a No. 4 seed and in 2009 as the No. 7 seed. Overall Sam Houston has won 28 and lost 18 in Southland post-season action. The Kats set a league record with 13 consecutive victories from 2007 until the second game of the 2011 tournament in San Marcos.
Sam Houston is 10-3 in Southland Conference opening round games. The Kats and the Cowboys did not meet in a league game this year, but McNeese defeated Sam 5-2 in a mid-week non-conference game in Huntsville on March 3.
Regular season champion Southeastern Louisiana is the No. 1 seed and faces No. 8 seed A&M-Corpuus Christi at 4 p.m. Wednesday. The Lions claimed their first regular-season championship and enter the tournament with a 41-15 overall record to go with a 25-5 mark in league play. The 25 wins is a Southland best in conference history.
Other games Wednesday see No. 3 Nicholls meet No. 6 seed Central Arkansas in the tournament's opening game at 9 a.m. and No. 2 Northwestern State go up against No. 7 Houston Baptist at 4 p.m. There will be 45 minutes between each contest daily.
The tournament is in its 29th year, beginning in 1964. But there were no tournaments played between 1969 and 1992. Since the event resumed in 1993, Sam Houston and Texas State lead all conference teams with four tournament championships.
The regular-season champion has won the tournament eight times though just three times since the tournament resumed in 1993. The last team to do that was Texas State, which won both the regular-season and tournament titles in 2011. The number four seed has won the event eight times.
Sam Houston State posted a 28-26 overall record and ended regular season play 17-12 in Southland action this spring. Five players were honored with selection to the 2015 All-Southland Conference squad. Bearkat second baseman Jake MacWilliam and first baseman Spence Rahm were voted to the All-Southland Conference second and third teams, respectively. Sam Houston outfielders Hayden Simerly and Bryce Johnson and catcher Collin Yelich are honorable mention All-Southland selections.
MacWilliam (.384), Johnson (.307) and Travis Lee (.299) are the Bearkats' top hitters for the season. Andrew Godail (4-6 overall, 4-3 in Southland, .254 ERA) will be the starting pitcher Wednesday versus McNeese. Alex Bisacca (6-2, 3 saves) and Jordan Church (2-1) provide strong relief from the bull pen.
TEAM CAPSULES FOR THE OTHER 7 SQUADS
No. 1 Southeastern Louisiana
The Lions, who swept five three-game conference series this spring, are led by sophomore outfielder Jacob Seward who is the Southland Conference player of the year. Seward boasts a .365 batting average with 35 RBIs. Southeastern Louisiana had nine all-conference selections with first-team selections including first baseman Kevin Carr, Seward, designated hitter Daniel Midyett and pitcher Tate Scioneaux.
No. 2 Northwestern State
The Demon are 30-21 overall and were 20-9 in Southland contests. Northwestern State outfielder Cort Brinson was tabbed the conference's hitter of the year and was a first-team all-conference pick. Northwestern placed three on the all-conference third team with second baseman David Fry, designated hitter CJ Webster and pitcher Adam Oller on the list.
No. 3 Nicholls
The Colonels are 34-17 overall and were 18-11 in Southland contests. Nicholls' pitching staff claimed both individual pitching honors from the league with right-hander Justin Sinibaldi claiming pitcher of the year and left-hander Stuart Holmes being voted relief pitcher of the year. First-team all-conference Sinibaldi led the conference through all games in pitching with a 1.40 ERA.
No. 4 McNeese State
McNeese State finished with a 32-23 overall mark and was 18-12 in Southland action. Second baseman Joe Provenzano is the league's the freshman of the year, leading all freshman with a .432 on base percentage. Other all-SLC Cowboys are shortstop Connor Lloyd, outfield Connor Crane and pitcher Collin Kober.
No. 6 Central Arkansas
Central Arkansas brings a 27-22 overall and 16-14 league record to this year's tournament. The Bears have two representatives on the all-conference teams with outfielder Wesley Hoover and outfielder Tyler Langley earning third-team all-conference.
No. 7 Houston Baptist
Houston Baptist is making its first Southland Conference Tournament appearance after finishing the regular season 24-25 overall and 14-13 in Southland action. HBU's Curtis Jones has been named as the league's utility player of the year after hitting .317 for the Huskies with 58 hits in 183 at bats.
No. 8 A&M-Corpus Christi
The Islanders bring a 23-25 overall mark and 13-14 league record into the conference tournament. Senior Trevor Belicek leads a talented staff on the mound. Outfielders Jordan Lee and Tyler Ware both were All-Southland selections.
TOURNAMENT COVERAGE
The schedule of the double-elimination event has four games on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Two “if-necessary” games are scheduled for Saturday before the championship game, which will be played at 6 p.m. Every game of the 2015 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament will be carried live by ESPN3. Chris Mycoskie will handle play-by-play duties throughout the tournament, joined by several announcers from around the league. For the title game, Mycoskie will be matched with color analyst Greg Swindell, a first-team All-American at Texas and 17-year Major League veteran. ESPN3 is ESPN's live multi-screen sports network, a destination that delivers thousands of exclusive sports events annually. It is accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
TOURNAMENT TICKETS
An all-tournament pass, which allows entry into all 15 possible games of the tournament, is $55. A single-day pass, which will include four games on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with a possibility of three games on Saturday, is $17 each day.
Skeeters season-ticket holders will be eligible for an $11 ticket offer. Additionally, children 5 and under will be admitted free of charge, while students at Southland Conference Institutions will also gain free admission with a valid student ID. Students at Southland Conference institutions will also gain free admission with a valid student ID.
Tickets are available for purchase at the Constellation Field box office, by phone at 281-240-4487 and online at sugarlandskeeters.com. Online orders are subject to a $2 service charge per ticket.
