SLC leaders to battle at The Don
5/3/2018 8:08:00 PM | Baseball
Game 46
May 4 • 6:30 pm • Huntsville • Don Sanders Stadium
Sam Houston State (32-13, 18-3 Southland) vs Southeastern Louisiana (30-17, 17-7 Southland)
90.5 FM • Live Stats • @BearkatsBSB on Twitter
Game 47
May 5 • 3:00 pm • Huntsville • Don Sanders Stadium
Sam Houston State (32-13, 18-3 Southland) vs Southeastern Louisiana (30-17, 17-7 Southland)
90.5 FM • Live Stats • @BearkatsBSB on Twitter
Game 48
May 6 • 1:00 pm • Huntsville • Don Sanders Stadium
Sam Houston State (32-13, 18-3 Southland) vs Southeastern Louisiana (30-17, 17-7 Southland)
90.5 FM • Live Stats • @BearkatsBSB on Twitter
HUNTSVILLE – A battle of Southland Conference heavyweights is set for this weekend when the first-place Sam Houston State Bearkats host the second-place Southeastern Louisiana Lions, starting Friday night at Don Sanders Stadium.
First place in the league will be on the line this weekend with the Bearkats entering the weekend holding a 2.5-game lead over the Lions. The Kats still have nine games left to complete the SLC slate, while the Lions will finish up their Southland schedule next weekend against Central Arkansas before hosting Houston in the final series of the regular season.
Live stats will also be available for each game and fans can get updates as they happen by following @BearkatsBSB on Twitter. Fans can also listen in on KSHU 90.5 FM for live audio of each game.
The weekend could bring with it celebration for Sam Houston with the potential being there to clinch the Southland Conference title; however, the Kats will need their first sweep of SLU since 2014 to bring that into play. A sweep, along with series losses by Central Arkansas at Abilene Christian and by Houston Baptist at home against New Orleans and UIW dropping at least one game to Northwestern State would secure an outright title for the Kats.
It will be a tall task with both teams coming into the weekend red hot. The Lions have won each of their last five games – all within the league – and have won each of their eight league series to date. Meanwhile, Sam Houston has been victorious in each of their seven league series and will be riding a six-game win streak of their own into Friday after most recently taking down No. 21 Houston in Sugar Land on Tuesday night.
The teams have been the class of the Southland over the last half decade, combining for seven NCAA Regional appearances since 2013 and winning five of the last six league titles. This will be the Lions' first trip to Huntsville since 2014.
Offensively, the Lions hit just .246 as a team, but make up for it by leading the league with 240 walks and ranking second with 79 hit batters. Their 112 stolen bases are 50 more than the next most in the Southland Conference and rank third in the nation.
Four Lions rank in the top five in the SLC in steals with Drew Avans leading the way with 19 successful swipes. He is just one of two hitters in the SLU lineup hitting better than .300 and leads the team with eight home runs. Cody Grosse leads the team with a .326 average and 10 doubles.
On the mound Carlisle Koestler's 2.20 ERA is the best among all players in the Southland, and he ranks second with a .189 opponent's batting average. Josh Green also ranks in the league's top 10 with a 3.11 ERA. As a staff, SLU ranks in the top five in the country in both strikeout-to-walk ratio and walks allowed per nine innings pitched.
Meanwhile, the Bearkats have not trailed in a game since the sixth inning of its middle game vs Central Arkansas – a streak of 48 consecutive innings – during its current six-game win streak. As a team the Kats rank in the top three among SLC teams in batting average, slugging, on-base percentage, runs scored, hits, RBI and home runs.
Andrew Fregia has taken over the team lead with eight homers and 37 RBI, while freshman Jack Rogers has given Sam Houston a big spot in the DH role with nine hits in his last 17 at-bats and eight RBI in the last four games.
The Kats do not have a qualifying pitcher among the top 10 in the league in ERA, but sport three starters within the top 15, led by Seth Ballew's 3.21 mark. In conference play Sam Houston starters have combined for a 2.68 ERA and held opposing hitters to just a .234 average.
Dakota Mills has been the go-to arm in the late innings, converting 12 of 13 save opportunities with nine being multi-inning. His 58 strikeouts this season also leads the team and ranks seventh in the league despite 33.0 of his 40.1 innings this season coming in relief.
