Seeding means little at tournament
5/9/2016 1:07:00 PM | Softball
One of the hottest teams in the league with six wins in their final seven regular season contests, the Sam Houston softball team knows their No. 6 seeding at the Southland Conference Tournament in Lake Charles, La., won't hold them back in the Bearkats quest for post-season honors.
In the 28-year history of the Southland softball tournament, the No. 1 seed has won the tournament championship only 12 times. Four times, the last in 2005, the No. 6 seed has earned the title and the league's berth in the NCAA Softball Championships.
“We're excited about the way we've been playing,” Sam Houston head coach Bob Brock said. “The girls have played well both offensively and defensively and we've gotten some good pitching. We're looking forward to the tournament.”
The 2016 Southland Conference Softball Tournament consists of a six-team double elimination format with a possibility of 11 games. The 11th game would be played in the event an undefeated team lost in the title game forcing a second game for the tournament championship, upholding the double elimination format. Game 11 start time is to be determined.
Sam Houston opens the event with an 11 a.m. contest with Lamar Wednesday morning. The Cardinals and the Bearkats are meeting for the first time this spring since the pair did not match up during the regular season. The winner takes on No. 2 seed Nicholls at 4 p.m. Wednesday. The loser heads to an elimination round matchup on Thursday morning.
Sam Houston is making its 13th Southland Conference post-season appearance. The Bearkats own a 33-20 record in Southland tournament play. The SHSU women won the tournament championship in 1988 and 2007. The Kats have reached the Southland finals five times, finishing as runners-up in 2005, 2012 and 2013.
At the 2013 tournament in Natchitoches, the Kats became only the fifth team in the 28-year history of the tournament to roll through the elimination bracket and force an “if necessary” game in the championship final. Sam Houston defeated host Northwestern State 5-0 to force the second game and held a 4-3 lead going into the top of the seventh inning. Tara McKenney's two-out, two-run single allowed Northwestern State to earn a 5-4 win.
Sam Houston reached the quarterfinals in Hammond in 2014 in their last tournament appearance where they were eliminated by Stephen F. Austin.
With only nine letter winners returning from Sam Houston's 19-28 team in 2015, head coach Bob Brock knew his 2016 squad could have some growing pains. Newcomers included eight freshmen, five transfers and a player from the volleyball team.
Starting the season against a challenging non-conference schedule, the Bearkats stood 7-21 after their first 28 games (with a 2-7 league mark). The squad rallied to finish Southland play with 11 wins in 18 games. SHSU is in the tournament berth with a shot at an NCAA berth.
The first nine games of the 2016 Southland Softball Tournament will be streamed live for free on the Southland Conference Digital Network, including Southland.org/watch and the league's mobile and tablet apps. The championship round will be an exclusive presentation of ESPN3, available via WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app. Chris Mycoskie, Assistant Commissioner of Television and Electronic Media for the Southland Conference, will handle play-by play for all games. Former University of Houston outfielder Sidney Gerbracht will join him for the championship as the color analyst.
2016 SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Wednesday, May 11
Game 1: #3 Lamar vs. #6 Sam Houston , 11 a.m.
Game 2: #4 Central Arkansas vs. #5 Stephen F. Austin, 1:30 p.m.
Game 3: #2 Nicholls vs. Winner Game #1, 4 p.m.
Game 4: #1 McNeese vs. Winner Game #2, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 12
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4, 11 a.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 1:30 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 4 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, May 13
Game 9: Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 7, 10:30 a.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, 2 p.m.
Game 11: If necessary game, 30 minutes after Game 10
