Sam Houston (11-5) at No. 4 Texas A&M (16-0)
Blue Bell Park (College Station)
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Tuesday, March 12 | 6:00 PM
Projected Starters
SHSU: LHP Michael Watson (1-0, 0.72 ERA, 12.2 IP, 18 K, 5 BB)
TAMU: RHP Isaac Morton (0-0, 3.86 ERA, 4.1 IP, 12 K, 4 BB)
HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston Bearkats will have the chance a chance to grab the attention of the college baseball landscape on Tuesday when they travel to Aggieland to square off with No. 4 Texas A&M at Blue Bell Park.
Tuesday's game will be streamed on SEC Network+ (ESPN+) with Will Johnson and Scott Clendenin on the call.
The Bearkats are coming off a road sweep of Texas State over the weekend where they held the Bobcats to just five runs over the course of three games, but they will be challenged by an Aggie team who is averaging better than 10 runs per game.
Texas A&M is one of two teams remaining in the country – along with Florida State – left with an unblemished record. The Aggies are one of four teams in the country with a national-best 16 victories, three of which are teams from the SEC.
SERIES NOTES vs TEXAS A&M
- The Kats enter Tuesday having taken down the Aggies in each of the last 2 meetings, including a 9-2 win in 2023
- The Kats last won in back-to-back trips to College Station in 2017 and 2018
- Sam Houston has not won 3 straight vs Texas A&M since winning once in 1969 and twice in 1970
- This will be the first time the Kats have faced a ranked Aggie team since a 15-5 loss to then No. 14 Texas A&M in 2019
- Tuesday marks the highest ranking for the Aggies vs SHSU since the Kats took down then No. 2 Texas A&M, 5-0, in 2016
- Tuesday will be the highest-ranked opponent the Kats have faced since hosting No. 1 Texas in February of 2022
LEFTOVERS FROM A SWEEP OF TEXAS STATE
- The weekend sweep was the first by the Kats in San Marcos in program history
- It was the 13th time the teams had played a 3-game series in San Marcos, but the first since 2011
- It was the first time in the D-1 era (since 1987) that the Kats have completed a road, non-conference, 3-game sweep
- It was the first time in Texas State's D-I era the Bobcats had been swept at home in a non-conference, 3-game series
- Bearkat pitching allowed just 5 total runs in 3 games
- The Kats have now allowed 2 or less runs in 4 consecutive games, marking the first time they have done that since 2018 when they did so in a stretch of 9 straight vs the likes of Prairie View (2x), Lamar (3x), Baylor and A&M-Corpus Christi (3x)
QUICK HITTERS FOR TUESDAY AT TEXAS A&M
- As a staff the Bearkats are sporting a team ERA of 3.64, which ranks second in CUSA and 22nd in the nation; however, take away SHSU's lopsided 19-2 loss in the series finale vs Oklahoma State on Opening Weekend and that number drops to a 2.61 team ERA over 15 games.
- The biggest factor to the Kats' success on the mound has been throwing strikes as they average just 2.64 walks per 9 innings, a stat which ranks fifth in the nation, just 1 slot below Texas A&M who ranks fourth with 2.59 BB/9.
- Walker Janek is riding 16-game hitting streak to open 2024 and has hit in 20 straight games dating back to the end of the 2023 campaign. It is the longest hit streak by a Kat to open a season since Todd Sebek hit safely in the first 18 games of the 2008 season.
- Janek had a pair of RBI in the season opener vs OSU, giving him exactly 100 RBI for his collegiate career. He now has 108 for his career trails only Easton Loyd (114) as Bearkats on the roster with 100+ career RBI.
