Sam Houston (24-16, 7-8 CUSA) at Baylor (18-20, 9-9 Big 12)
Baylor Ballpark (Waco)
Tuesday, April 23 | 6:30 PM
Projected Starters
SHSU: LHP Gavi Coldiron (3-3, 5.10 ERA, 42.1 IP, 30 K, 11 BB)
BU: RHP Jared Matheson (0-1, 8.64 ERA, 8.1 IP, 11 K, 7 BB)
HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston Bearkats will look to pick up a key road midweek win on Tuesday when they battle the Baylor Bears at Baylor Ballpark in Waco.
The game will be aired on ESPN+ from Waco with John Harris and Pat Combs on the call.
SERIES NOTES vs BAYLOR
- Sam Houston already owns an 18-3 win over the Bears on March 19 in Huntsville, largely aided by a 12-run bottom of the third inning. It is still the largest inning of 2024 for the Bearkats and is the most in a single inning for SHSU since 2016.
- Sam Houston will be looking to complete a home/home sweep of Baylor for the first time since 2014 when they won in both Waco and Huntsville.
- Sam Houston will be in search of its first win at Baylor Ballpark since 2018.
BEARKAT NOTES FOR TUESDAY
- Walker Janek added to his resume last week when he was named to the Buster Posey Award watch list for the third consecutive season. He is already on the watch list for the Golden Spikes Award watch list and is putting together arguably his best season at the college level, ranking in the top 5 in CUSA in batting average (.385), home runs (12), triples (3) and runs scored (41).
- Janek has thrown out 12 of 232 attempted base stealers this season and is doing it at the plate as well. He hit his team-best 12th home run of the year on Friday vs Middle Tennessee and now has 32 for his career, which puts him all alone in third place all-time at SHSU. Each of the two players ahead of him played 4 years for the Bearkats, while Janek is just in his third season.
- Easton Loyd is closing in on a career milestone of his own with 199 career hits, needing just 1 more to reach 200 for his career. He would be the first Bearkat to reach 200 career hits since 2019 when both Clayton Harp and Hunter Hearn reached the mark.
- Sam Houston's pitching staff turned in one of its best weekend's of the season vs Middle Tennessee, holding the Blue Raiders to just 6 runs during the 3-game sweep. The Kats finished with 26 strikeouts and just 5 walks issued in 26.0 on the mound, holding MTSU to a .208 average and posting a 2.08 ERA.
- Chandler David, who was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List in the preseason, has moved back into his familiar role in the back end of the pen and has saves in 3 of his last 4 appearances. In 7 appearances since March 23 he has posted a 2.65 ERA with 4 saves, 20 strikeouts and just 4 walks issued in 17.0 innings. Opposing hitters are hitting just .180 in that span.
A LOOK AT THE BEARS
- The Bears had won 10 of 11 games before dropping each of its final two contests at Kansas over the weekend, stopping a streak of three straight weekend series wins.
- Baylor has scored eight or more runs in nine of its last 13 games and has tallied nine or more hits in 12 of its last 15 games. The Bears have struck out 10 or more in eight of their last 14 games.
- Since moving redshirt junior outfielder Enzo Apodaca back into the leadoff spot on March 29, the Bears are hitting .329 as a team across those 13 games and have scored 117 runs on 151 hits, including 29 doubles, three triples and 15 home runs.
- According to Pro Baseball Radar, BU faced the nation's toughest schedule through the first month of the season based on 2023's RPI and win percentage.
