Top-seeded Bearkats battle SFA Wednesday
5/24/2016 12:35:00 PM | Baseball
SUGAR LAND – With the regular season behind them, the Sam Houston State baseball program turns its attention to what many call the second season. One championship in hand, the squad begins the search for another on Wednesday.
Top-seeded Sam Houston takes on eight-seed Stephen F. Austin at 4 p.m. on Wednesday in the Southland Conference Tournament from Sugar Land's Constellation Field. The tournament will be broadcast in its entirety through ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.
Fans can also purchase tickets through the Sugar Land Skeeters by calling (281) 240-4487. All-tournament passes are available for $60 while single-game passes are on sale for $18.
The Bearkats (37-19, 24-6 SLC) are riding a six-game win streak, including three over the weekend against Houston Baptist that led the team to its fourth Southland regular-season title in five seasons. Sam Houston took two of three against the Lumberjacks (27-28, 14-16) earlier this season at Don Sanders Stadium.
“SFA gave us three good ballgames over here,” second-year head coach Matt Deggs said. “They can really swing the bat. We're going to take it one game at a time. We've got a lot baseball left in us. Going down to this tournament, we've got experience. Winning is contagious.”
While the squad has seen large turnover from a season ago, several key pieces return from last year's team that won three games and advanced to the tournament championship game. For the Bearkats, winning the regular season is just the first goal they can check off the list.
“We got to the championship game last year and we're going down there expecting to win it,” Deggs said. “That's how we start off every season. We want to win the regular season and we want to win the tournament.”
The Bearkats have won four Southland Conference Tournaments, the most of any active league member, including three since 2005. Sam Houston is paired in the bracket with four-seed Lamar and five-seed Central Arkansas. Combined with the Lumberjacks, the Kats went 7-2 against its half of the bracket during the regular season.
“This tournament will be a dog fight,” Deggs said. “This is an offensive league. There are some teams that can really swing the bat at a high level. What you've got eight teams over there fighting for survival. Any time that happens, it's dangerous. We've got to redirect our focus, all of it, to going and getting game one. We'll unload everyone we've got to get game one.”
Sam Houston's Heath Donica (8-3, 3.40 ERA) will make the tournament-opening start. The right-hander was named Second-Team All-Southland Conference on Monday after finishing the regular season in the top-10 in six different categories during league games including second in wins (6).
The Bearkats have received strong work from its starting pitchers throughout the season and will hope that continues to serve as a strength. Helping bolster the staff is a bullpen that has been lights out since roles became defined 35 games ago during the start of the Nicholls series.
Since that time, closer Greg Belton owns 12 saves and a 1.06 ERA while right-hander Miles Manning has posted a 1.91 ERA in 28 1-3 innings pitched. Left-hander Hayden Nixon has a 2.95 ERA in 13 appearances, while Dakota Mills, who has since seen time as a start, has a 1.30 ERA in 27 2-3 innings.
“From a pitchers standpoint, we need to go in and pound the zone,” Belton said. “We can win the tournament with the arms we have. I think the experience from last year helps us the most. We can talk with the younger guys through their nerves if they are nervous or help them in any situation they might be in.”
While the pitching staff is senior laden, an expected eight positional players will be competing in their first Southland Conference Tournament. For Deggs and company, who regularly started four to six freshmen each game, those players have matured before his eyes.
“They're not freshmen anymore,” Deggs said. “Once you get past a certain amount of starts or 50 and 60 at bats, you start to mature. They are freshmen by class only. I feel like they've already matured into sophomores. It hasn't just been one of them. The list goes on and on. They're our future and we invested in that future and have a lot of promise going forward.”
A win Wednesday would put Sam Houston in Thursday's 7 p.m. game against the winner of Lamar and Central Arkansas. A loss would pit the Bearkats in an elimination game against the loser of the Cardinals and Bears.
