D1Baseball.com recognizes Kats among top programs
9/22/2015 1:34:00 PM | Baseball
D1Baseball.com has tabbed Sam Houston State No. 74 overall and the top team in the Southland Conference in its Top 100 College Baseball Programs of the current era, evaluating squads in the best shape currently with an eye toward the next five to 10 years.
“The landscape of college baseball right now is where anybody can beat anybody on any given day,” second-year head coach Matt Deggs said. “It's nice to be thought of in the top third of college baseball at 74th but we're focused on the here and now and building to get where we want to go.”
The list, available to subscribers of the website, was compiled by Aaron Fitt and Kendall Rogers, and sought to assess the overall health of programs, based on recent history, coaching staff quality, facilities, scholarship/financial aid situation, conference dynamics, recruiting and player development proficiency.
“David Pierce's three-year stint resulted in three straight trips to regionals from 2012-14, and after he left for Tulane the Bearkats found a talented replacement in Matt Deggs, the architect of exciting high-powered offenses during his days as an assistant at Louisiana-Lafayette and Texas A&M,” writes D1Baseball.com. “… Pierce showed that this program is good enough to make regionals as an at-large team, and we expect Deggs to experience similar success.”
Sam Houston ranks fifth in Texas with six NCAA Regional appearances since 2007, taking advantage of major facility upgrades including the opening of the $5.5 million Don Sanders Stadium in 2006 and unveiling of a state-of-the-art $300,000 video board in 2014.
The Bearkats boast 16 current active professional players, including Toronto Blue Jays' reliever Ryan Tepera (0-1, 2.76 ERA). Sam Houston has seen a program-tying five players selected in the Major League Baseball draft each of the past two seasons.
On Aug. 31, the Bearkats released their 56-game 2016 schedule, which features 20 games against squads that made D1Baseball's top 100 list including Texas A&M (14), Texas (15), Rice (20), Oklahoma (27), Houston (29), Louisiana-Lafayette (30), Texas Tech (38), Baylor (59) and Wichita State (73).
“It's going to callus and toughen us up,” Deggs said. “I really believe with a schedule like ours, we'll be playing our best baseball at the right time. We'll weather the storms and do some things that may seem unlikely at the same time. We love the challenge of playing the top programs.”
Sam Houston opened fall practice on Sept. 1, welcoming 16 true freshmen to a squad that finished 31-28 and advanced to the Southland Conference Tournament finals a season ago. For the latest, including practice photos and commentary, follow @BearkatBaseball on Twitter and visit GoBearkats.com.
