Games 1-3 | Don Sanders Stadium (Huntsville)
Sam Houston (0-0, 0-0 CUSA) vs Missouri State (0-0, 0-0 MVC)
GAME 1 – Friday, February 14 – 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Projected Starters (2024 stats)
SHSU: RHP Ryan Peterson (2-2, 3.86 ERA, 30.1 IP, 24 K, 6 BB)
MOST: RHP Michael Yusypchuk (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP, 0 K, 0 BB)
GAME 2 – Saturday, February 15 – 2:00 p.m.
Projected Starters (2024 stats)
SHSU: RHP Tate Hickman (0-0, 0.000 ERA, 0.0 IP, 0 K, 0 BB)
MOST: RHP Jackson Holmes* (9-3, 4.90 ERA, 71.2 IP, 46 K, 18 BB)
*stats from 2024 season at Saint Louis
GAME 3 – Sunday, February 16 – 12:00 p.m. (BSN audio)
Projected Starters
SHSU: TBA
MOST: TBA
HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston Bearkats will open the 2025 season on Friday with the opener of a three-game series vs Missouri State at Don Sanders Stadium.
Friday's season opener can be seen on ESPN+, while Sunday's game can be heard online via the Bearkat Sports Network with Carlos Zimmermann on the call. Each game can be followed via live stats or by following @BearkatsBSB on X and Instagram.
The Bearkats are entering their sixth season under head coach Jay Sirianni and second in Conference USA. They are coming off a 34-24 season in 2024 and will feature a new-look roster with only three returning position starters and 26 total newcomers.
Sophomore right-hander Ryan Peterson is scheduled to get the ball on Opening Night vs the Bears in what will be his third career start. His 30.1 innings in 2024 are the most of any returning Bearkat arm and he enters his second year with the program looking to build on a freshman season which saw him post a solid 3.86 ERA with 24 punchouts and only six walks.
He is scheduled to be followed by true freshman right-hander Tate Hickman on Saturday, while Sunday's starter is still to be determined.
Offensively, Hunter Autrey headlines the returners after a season which saw him hit in the middle of the lineup and put up a .300 average with nine homers, 14 doubles and 48 RBI. Jace Martinez and Blake Brown are also back and are poised to make a jump as sophomores after a 2024 season which saw both log significant playing time as true freshmen.
PROMOTIONS & EVENTS
Friday's season opener will be special with a pregame ceremony to officially name the press box at Don Sanders Stadium after former Bearkat Baseball player and radio voice Leroy Wilkinson.
Sunday Run Day will also be back in effect with children invited to run the bases on the field following the conclusion of the series finale.
ALL-TIME SERIES vs MISSOURI STATE
- The Kats are 1-1 all-time vs Missouri State, including 1-0 in Huntsville
- Sam Houston last played MSU in San Marcos in 2013, falling 3-2, despite out-hitting the Bears 10-3 in the game
- The Bearkats and Bears first met in 2008 in Huntsville in a 15-11 win by SHSU on the back end of a doubleheader on the second day of the Sam Houston Classic. The Kats had earlier dropped an 8-1 decision to Nebraska before scoring 11 times in the final four frames to take down MSU. The Kats were able to withstand a 6-run bottom of the ninth by the Bears to hold on for the win
- The series vs the Bears will be a preview of an upcoming league matchup as Missouri State is set to become a member of Conference USA for the 2026 season
QUICK HITTERS
- Sam Houston's roster features 26 new faces for 2025, the largest roster turnover in program history
- This year the Kats will feature five players who hail from outside of the Lone Star State, the most out-of-state players the Bearkats have had since the 2009 roster also had five non-Texans
- This weekend is the fourth consecutive season the Bearakats have opened a season with a weekend series at Don Sanders Stadium. Sam Houston has won each of its last three season-opening series and has not lost its first series at home since 2021 when it dropped two of three games to UTSA
- True freshman Tate Hickman is slated to get the ball on Saturday and if that holds true to form, he will be the first Bearkat true freshman to get a start on Opening Weekend since Matt Dillard closed out the Rycass Classic vs Virginia Tech in DeLand, Fla., in 2019
- The last time a freshman got a start in an Opening Weekend at Don Sanders Stadium came in 2017 when Hayden Wesneski made his first career start vs Nevada
- The Bearkats were selected to finish fourth in Conference USA's preseason poll, checking in behind Dallas Baptist, Louisiana Tech and WKU
