Tournament Berth On The Line at SFA
5/5/2016 4:00:00 PM | Softball
Needing one victory to assure the Bearkats of a berth in the 2016 Southland Conference Tournament, Sam Houston travels to Nacogdoches to take on Stephen F. Austin in a three-game series Friday and Saturday.
The pair will meet in a 3 p.m. single game Friday afternoon then complete the regular season schedule with a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday.
The Lumberjacks (24-25, SLC 12-11) enter the weekend holding down fifth place in the league standings. Sam Houston (19-30, SLC 11-13) are in sixth. Only six squads earn a berth in the tournament which begins Wednesday, May 11, in Lake Charles, La.
Northwestern State (25-24, SLC 8-16) still could tie the Kats for sixth place with a sweep of Southeastern Louisiana in Natchitoches Friday and Saturday and SFA holding Sam Houston winless in Nacogdoches. Northwestern State owns the tie-breaker over Sam Houston, having won two of three in the pair's series earlier this year.
Either one Bearkat victory or one Northwestern State loss and the Kats are in the tournament. Sam Houston missed going to last year's post-season event after reaching the Southland championship final in 2012 in San Antonio and 2013 in Natchitoches and the semifinals in 2014.
Earlier this year, when the Bearkats stood 7-19 for the season and 2-7 following the two losses in a home series with Northwestern State, a trip to the tournament seemed out of the question.
“The way this team has come on here at the end of the season has just been great,” Sam Houston head coach Bob Brock said. “This young team never gave up. They've fought through a lot of adversity and having been playing well, especially offensively.”
Sam Houston brings a four-game winning streak into the SFA series. The Bearkats have produced a .408 team batting average in those wins with 42 hits, six doubles, four triples and three home runs.
Freshman first baseman Codi Carpenter was named Southland Conference “Hitter of the Week” after going 8-for-9 in the Sam women's series sweep of Incarnate Word. Third baseman Breanna Homer and outfielder Samantha Belongia have produced batting averages of .583 and .556 in the four games. Homer, Carpenter and Belongia all bring five-game hitting streaks into the SFA series.
The Bearkat pitching staff has been solid in the circle as well with a 0.64 team earned run average during the win streak. Lindsey McLeod, Taylor Atkinson and Jordan Franks have combined to give up only three runs in their last 22 innings of action.
Stephen F. Austin brings a hot streak of its own into the series. The Lumberjacks have won five of their last six games, helping out the Bearkats last weekend by taking two of three from Northwestern State.
Infielders Brittany Lewis and Autumn Holloway pace the Jacks at the plate with respective batting averages of .382 and .307. Lewis has totaled 11 home runs this season.
Callie Guffey and Makayla Sikes are SFA's top two pitchers with earned run averages of 2.83 and 2.71, respectively.
