Sam Houston (15-7, 2-1 CUSA) vs No. 15 (17-3, 0-0 CUSA)
Don Sanders Stadium (Huntsville)
Friday, March 22 | 6:30 PM | ESPN+
Projected Starters
SHSU: RHP Coltin Atkinson (3-1, 1.76 ERA, 30.2 IP, 30 K, 9 BB)
DBU: RHP Ryan Johnson (3-0, 2.18 ERA, 33.0 IP, 49 K, 4 BB)
Saturday, March 23 | 3:00 PM
Projected Starters
SHSU: LHP Gavi Coldiron (2-0, 2.05 ERA, 26.1 IP, 16 K, 4 BB)
DBU: RHP Jaron DeBerry (2-0, 3.42 ERA, 26.1 IP, 27 K, 8 BB)
Sunday, March 24 | 1:00 PM | ESPN+
Projected Starters
SHSU: TBA
DBU: RHP Luke Pettitte (1-0, 2.93 ERA, 15.1 IP, 18 K, 3 BB)
HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston Bearkats will have the opportunity to add a signature series win to their resume this weekend, when they host No. 15 Dallas Baptist for three games beginning Friday night at Don Sanders Stadium.
Friday and Sunday's games against the Patriots will be aired on ESPN+ with Jason Barfield on the call. Saturday's middle game can be heard via audio on KSHU 90.5 FM.
The series pits two of the top teams in Conference USA against each other, both teams who finished their 2023 seasons in NCAA regionals. The Kats ended their 2023 season with 39 total wins in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional, while the Patriots finished with 47 total victories before falling to Oral Roberts in the NCAA Stillwater Regional.
Sam Houston comes into the weekend having won four of its last five games and five of its last six games played on the weekend. Meanwhile, DBU enters as one of the top teams in the collegiate baseball landscape this year and is a consensus top-20 ranked team within the polls.
SERIES NOTES vs DBU
- The Patriots are ranked No. 15 in the D1Baseball.com poll, making DBU the highest ranked opponent to come to Don Sanders Stadium for a weekend series since No. 13 Louisiana was at The Don early in the 2017 season. This weekend marks only the fourth ranked opponent to be at The Don for a series in its history, the others being No. 25 Oklahoma (2016) and No. 23 Texas State (2012).
- The series will be only the second conference series against a ranked team at home for the Kats since that 2012 series vs Texas State when both programs were members of the Southland Conference.
- Friday and Saturday's games will feature four of the top arms in the early going of the CUSA season with all four pitchers - Atkinson/Coldiron for SHSU, Johnson/DeBerry for DBU - ranking in the top four in the league in ERA
- The series will also feature arguably the two premier backstops in CUSA in SHSU's Walker Janek and DBU's Grant Jay. Prior to the season, Janek was named the CUSA Preseason Player of the Year by D1Baseball.com while Jay was voted to a similar honor by CUSA itself following a 2023 season which saw him finish with 21 home runs as a freshman.
- The programs have played 48 all-time games prior to this weekend, but it will be the first time they have competed in a league series. DBU joined CUSA in 2023 and took the league crown a year ago, while the Kats are in their first season in the league.
- Sam Houston will enter Friday's series opener looking to snap a 5-game losing skid to the Patriots, dating back to 2018.
BEARKAT NOTES FOR THE WEEKEND
- Walker Janek enters the weekend riding a 22-game hit streak to open 2024, a streak which extends to 26 games dating back to the final 4 games of 2023. It is the longest hit streak to open a season by a Bearkat since Andrew Kasparak hit safely in each of the first 22 games of the 2003 season, while the streak of 26 games is tied for the third-longest streak at SHSU all-time.
- Janek has also homered in 4 of his last 6 games, but as good as Janek has been for the Kats, his Gregory-Portland HS teammate Malachi Lott has been coming on strong as well in recent weeks. Lott's average had dipped to just .193 before the Kats went to No. 4 Texas A&M last week; however, he has hit safely in all 6 games since with 4 multi-hit games and 12 RBI in that span, upping his average to .307 entering the DBU series
- In fact, the GP duo has been nearly unstoppable during this 6-game stretch. The pair of Janek/Lott has hit in the 2-3 hole in each game and has combined to go 30-for-65 with 20 runs scored, 6 homers and 23 RBI between them
- Hunter Autrey is also turning in a big start to his season with a team-best 7 home runs. He enters the DBU series having hit safely in 18 straight games and had an 8-RBI game last Saturday at NM State, a mark tied for the second most RBI in a single game in program history.
- The Kats' pitching staff is issuing just 3.01 walks per nine innings, a mark ranking seventh in the nation.
- Sam Houston's 4.08 ERA ranks 32nd in the nation and third in CUSA. But take away the Kats' lopsided 19-2 loss to Oklahoma State on Opening Weekend and that number drops nearly by a run per game, down to an ERA of 3.25 in the other 21 games of the year.
- Reliever Wyatt Tucker has been an incredible find for the Kats in 2024, joining the team after 3 years at Texas A&M. The righty has a 2.05 ERA and struck out 18 and walked just four in 18.1 innings with a team best three saves. He has a win and two saves in his last three appearances, striking out six hitters in 3.2 innings in that span.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE PATRIOTS
- DBU won the CUSA title in 2023, its first year in the league, and was chosen as the preseason favorite in the league prior to the 2024 season.
- They backed up that merit with nine straight wins to open the season and come in with a sparkling 17-3 record highlighted by wins over Arizona and Alabama at the Frisco Classic and midweek wins over Oklahoma (2), Oklahoma State and Baylor. They enter the weekend ranked No. 15 in the country, their highest ranking since finishing the 2021 season ranked at No. 14.
- CUSA Preseason Pitcher of the Year Ryan Johnson headlines the pitching staff, sporting a 2.18 ERA with 49 punchouts to just four walks issued in 33.0 innings on the year. He has gone 7.0 innings in three of his last four starts and punched out 13 hitters in a win over Central Michigan before backing that up with 14 strikeouts vs Arizona at the Frisco Classic.
- Offensively, DBU leads CUSA in numerous categories including home runs, slugging percentage and stolen bases. Sophomore catcher Grant Jay leads the way with nine home runs and 27 RBI, both team bests; however, the Patriots have four players with at least six homers on the year and three who have picked up at least 23 RBI.
