Huskies host Bearkats in big weekend series
5/7/2015 4:00:00 PM | Baseball
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Houston Baptist plays host to Sam Houston in a three-game Southland Conference baseball series this weekend that is vital to both teams.
Action begins at 2 p.m. at Husky Field in Houston Friday. The two meet Saturday at 1 p.m. and complete the series Sunday at 2 p.m.
Sam Houston (26-23 season, 15-9 Southland) is in a heated battle for one of the top seeds in the Southland Conference Tournament in two weeks. The Bearkats trail second place Northwestern State (16-7) by a game-and-a-half and third place McNeese State (17-10) by a half game. Southeastern Louisiana leads the league with a 20-4 record.
Houston Baptist (22-24 season, 11-13 Southland) is fighting to nail down a playoff berth. Right now the Huskies own a spot in the top eight but need wins to keep ninth place Stephen F. Austin at bay.
The top eight finishers in the regular season (with the exception of Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word) all earn spots in the Southland post-season baseball event to be played at the Sugar Land Skeeters' Constellation Field Thursday through Saturday, May 20-23.
Sam Houston enters the weekend having won 12 of its last 16 contests. The Bearkats earned their fifth Southland series victory last week, taking two of three from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Huntsville. HBU is seeking to end a four-game losing streak.
The Bearkats feature the league's second-ranked pitching staff and the Southland's fourth-ranking hitting team. Sam Houston owns a .280 team batting average and a 3.39 team earned run average. The Kat pitchers have limited opponents to a .250 batting average. As a team, Sam Houston has posted 478 hits including 70 doubles, six triples and 17 home runs.
Infielder Jake MacWilliam (.365), first baseman Spence Rahm (.307) and right fielder Travis Lee (.300) lead the Sam squad in hitting. MacWilliam has posted at least one hit in 11 of his last 12 games. Rahm has produced a team-leading total of 17 multiple hit games.
Sam Houston will continue with its normal pitching rotation of Andrew Godail (3-5, 2.34 ERA), Logan Boyd (5-4, 3.52 ERA) and Sam Odom (4-4, 3.62 ERA) this weekend. Alex Bisacca (5-2, 1.98 ERA, 2 saves), Jordan Church (2-1, 2.45 ERA) and Ryan Brinley (1-4, 5.96 ERA, 4 saves) are the Kats' top relievers. Bisacca and Godail stand fourth and 10th, respectively, in earned run average in the league.
Outfielder Colt Atwood continues to chase the all-time Sam Houston record for career hits. Atwood's four-year mark of 284 hits is just eight away from breaking Braeden Riley's school mark of 291 set in 2008-11. Atwood already owns Sam Houston records for most games played (230), games started (224) and career at bats (945).
Zach Nehrir is Houston Baptist's top threat at the plate. With a .342 average that includes seven doubles, five triples and four home runs, Nehrir ranks seventh in the Southland Conference in hitting.
Following the series with the Huskies the Bearkats will close out their 2015 regular season schedule next week with four home runs at Don Sanders Stadium. Sam Houston plays host to Texas A&M on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. and meets Lamar on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
