Kats, No. 10 Baylor battle Tuesday at The Don
3/6/2017 6:35:00 PM | Baseball
Game 13
Tuesday, March 7 • 6:30 p.m. • Huntsville, Texas • Don Sanders Stadium
#10 Baylor (11-1) vs. Sam Houston State (8-4) • Game Notes
Purchase Tickets • ESPN3 • Live Stats • @BearkatsBSB on Twitter
HUNTSVILLE – For the first time since 2012, Sam Houston State welcomes a top-10 team to Don Sanders Stadium as the Bearkats host No. 10 Baylor on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
The Bearkats are riding a six-game winning streak, including five straight at home, posting a .324 average and 2.50 ERA during that stretch. Baylor enters as one of the nation's hottest teams, taking 2-of-3 over the weekend at the Shiners Hospital for Children College Classic from Houston's Minute Maid Park.
Tuesday's meeting will be the 107th all-time between Sam Houston and Baylor and comes exactly 65 years to the date that the programs played their first matchup – March 7, 1952. The Bears hold a 62-44 advantage all-time but the squads have split the last 10 matchups including a pair of games a season ago.
Sam Houston sends redshirt junior Dakota Mills (1-1, 3.48 ERA) to the mound for his third start this season and eighth overall with the Bearkats. The right-hander picked up his first win of 2017 last Tuesday, holding Texas State to two earned runs in 5 2-3 innings while striking out a career-high six.
The Kats, who are in the midst of playing eight straight at home, have been tough-to-beat at Don Sanders Stadium. Sam Houston has won 26 of its last 31 games at the facility, led by stellar performances on the mound this season with the pitching staff posting a 2.88 ERA in 100 innings of work.
The squad will be tested by a red-hot Bears program that is batting .315 and averaging 7 ¾ runs per game. Baylor will be the third ranked-opponent Sam Houston has hosted this season. The Kats began their current six-game win streak by knocking off No. 13 Louisiana, 8-2 in the series finale.
Sam Houston heads into the midweek ranked in the top-50 nationally in seven team categories including ranking first in sacrifice bunts (22) and ninth in stolen bases (25). Three players are in the top-25 in sac bunts including Taylor Beene and Lance Miles who are second and third with six and five to their name.
A win Tuesday would mark the program's second victory against a top-10 team in as many seasons and would be the first at The Don since defeating No. 3 Rice, 9-8, on March 15, 2006. While Sam Houston has won four straight games in Waco, the Kats are looking to snap a brief two-game losing skid against the Bears at home.
Tickets are available for as low as $8 by calling the Sam Houston ticket office at (936) 294-1729. Reserved chairback seating is also available for $12. Sam Houston students and staff are admitted free with a valid Bearkat OneCard. Through 12 home outings, the Kats are averaging nearly 1,200 fans per game.
QUOTEABLES:
Head coach Matt Deggs on the upcoming game against Baylor…
“They are super well coached. Steve Rodriguez is one of the best coaches in the country. He built the Pepperdine program and won a national championship there as a player. He has coached on the big stage. He has his guys in there and you're seeing it. It will be a great challenge for us but in the same sense, it's a great opportunity for us too. I like the way we're playing right now.”
Head coach Matt Deggs on the production from Blake Chisolm…
“He's hitting balls all over the park really hard and loud from foul pole to foul pole. He's kind of let us settle into our offense, holding together the middle of the lineup. He has strung together a couple weeks' worth of great at-bats. He's on a five-game stretch as good as I've seen.”
Head coach Matt Deggs on two-out production to clinch sweep vs. Bradley…
“To see us score with two outs, that's kind of our bread and butter. There was two outs, nothing going and Beene hits a ball up the middle, Robie goes first to third and now Riley McKnight hits one up the middle and t's on. We read a dirt ball up the middle and before you know it, Bryce is hitting a double off the left field wall. That's who we are. It was good to see us have the opportunity to respond this week and get back to playing the way we're capable of, especially heading into Baylor and Lamar.”
