SHSU, Southeastern La. face off on Thursday
5/25/2017 1:21:00 AM | Baseball
GAME 2: 2017 Southland Conference Tournament
Thursday, May 25 • 4 p.m. • Sugar Land, Texas • Constellation Field
No. 3 Sam Houston State (37-20) vs. No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana (36-18)
Purchase Tickets • Game Notes • Tournament Bracket
ESPN3 • Listen Live • Live Stats • @BearkatsBSB on Twitter
SUGAR LAND – Three-seed Sam Houston State, victors in five straight, face off against two-seed Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday at 4 p.m. in winner's bracket action from the Southland Conference Tournament at Constellation Field.
The game will be a rematch of last year's tournament championship game and will be the seventh time the Bearkats and Lions have faced off in the last nine seasons at the event. Sam Houston owns a 4-2 record against Southeastern Louisiana at the league tournament.
HOW THEY GOT THERE
Sam Houston opened the tournament in style, tagging Stephen F. Austin for six first-inning runs in route to a 13-1, seven-inning victory on Wednesday morning. The win was the fifth-consecutive in the tournament opener for the Bearkats who rode a complete-game performance from Heath Donica.
Robie Rojas finished 4-for-4, matching a program record with five RBIs. All nine Sam Houston positional starters recorded either a hit, run scored or RBI. Bryce Johnson set a season-high with four hits while logging his team-leading 27th multi-hit performance.
Meanwhile, Southeastern Louisiana overcame an early 4-0 hole on Wednesday afternoon to race past seven-seed New Orleans, 12-7. Senior Carson Crites led the way at the plate for SLU with a 3-for-5 showing and drove in a team-high three runs. Senior Webb Bobo, senior Derrick Mount and junior Drew Avans each homered for the Lions.
SETTING THE STAGE FOR DAY 2 IN SUGAR LAND…
Three games followed Sam Houston's opening-round win on Wednesday, setting the stage for an exciting Day 2. In addition to the Bearkats and Lions, top-seed McNeese and five-seed Central Arkansas will also face off in winner's bracket action in the 7 p.m. nightcap.
The Cowboys jumped out to a two-run lead and staved off a Lamar rally in a 7-5 victory. Dustin Duhon and Austin Nelson blasted solo home runs, Rickey Ramirez, Jr. popped a two-run single, Trent Fontenot fanned a batter on a 3-2 count with no outs and the bases loaded, and Collin Kober struck out the only two batters he faced in the top of the ninth inning.
Central Arkansas advanced to the winner's bracket with a 15-4 run-rule victory against four-seed Houston Baptist. The 15 runs was the most the Bears have scored in the SLC Tournament, dating back to their first appearance in 2012, and the most by any SLC team since Lamar scored 17 in the 2010 championship game. HBU aided the Bears' efforts, walking 14 hitters on the night.
The tournament field will be trimmed by two as Stephen F. Austin and New Orleans face off at 9 a.m. before Houston Baptist and Lamar get underway at noon. Both are elimination games. Four teams will contend to stay on the winning end as Sam Houston takes on Southeastern Louisiana at 4 p.m. before McNeese and Central Arkansas close out the day at 7 p.m.
BEARKATS COMFORTABLE AT CONSTELLATION
Sam Houston showed once again Wednesday why it views Constellation Field as a home away from home. Eight of nine positional starters in the lopsided victory also started last year's 7-4 championship win against the Lions, with Blake Chisolm being the lone exception.
The Kats are the lone team to have played a regular season game at the facility this season, taking down No. 12 Houston, 5-4 just over a month ago in the opener of the Don Sanders Cup. Sam Houston is 9-5 all-time at the facility including 8-5 in league tournament action.
KATS RECOGNIZED PRIOR TO WEDNESDAY'S OPENER
Seven Sam Houston players received their all-conference honors on Wednesday morning including Pitcher of the Year, Heath Donica and Freshman of the Year, Hayden Wesneski. Donica was among four players to be named first-team all-conference and was joined by Taylor Beene, Bryce Johnson and Robie Rojas. Andrew Fregia and Clayton Harp also received their third-team all-conference plaques.
