Kats continue to roll

By Gene Schallenberg
Sports

April 21, 2008 12:05 am

— The Bearkats continue to have success at the plate and that has translated into more victories. The series finale against McNeese State would be no different as Sam Houston State connected for 14 hits in a 11-1 victory at Don Sanders Stadium to complete the three-game sweep of the Cowboys on Sunday.
“I think we’ve picked our game up a level,” SHSU head coach Mark Johnson said. “We’re getting close to where we can compete and that’s something we’ve been pushing for.”
Keith Stein and Ryan Trevino led the Bearkats with three hits apiece. Bobby Verbick and Nick Zaleski each did their part getting 3 RBIs.
“It seems like this past weekend, I put some better swings on the ball,” Verbick said. “I put the ball in play a lot. As a player, I feel real confident right now.”
The Bearkats (12-6 in SLC, 25-14 overall) wanted to get out to an early lead to make it easy for their pitcher and did just that scoring four runs in the second inning.
Ryan Weber brought in the first run of the game on a single to left field that brought in Zaleski from second base. With baserunners on first and second base, the Bearkats perfectly executed a hit-and-run as second baseman Braeden Riley hit a single to right field to score Rohlmeier from second base. McNeese State’s Sam Miller overthrew his relay man and Weber rounded third to score.
Riley came scored on a bunt by Keith Stein that bounced off Cowboys’ pitcher Michael Robbins’ leg. Robbins ran over to first base to step on the base, but stumbled in the dirt.
McNeese State (5-13, 10-29) scored in the fourth inning on a Nick Eubanks single to left field that scored Josh Cholley. But that would be the Cowboys’ lone run of the game.
The Cowboys were held at bay by starting pitcher Guillaume Duguay as the Bearkats continued to score. The Kats offense capped off the game with a two-run home run by Zaleski in the eighth inning that ended the game because of the mercy rule.
Duguay (2-0) pitched a gem for Sam Houston. Duguay allowed only four hits through seven innings with six strikeouts and giving up just one earned run.
“It was just one of those days,” Duguay said. “Everybody has been doing real well. When you hit your spots and stay ahead in the count, then it makes it easy on the mound.”
The Bearkats now have two straight sweeps over SLC opponents and are within two games of Texas-San Antonio and first place in conference.
After a pair of midweek games against Rice and Centenary, the Bearkats head to San Antonio for an important series against the Roadrunners.
“The only way to gain ground is either have somebody else knock off the top teams or if you can knock them off,” Johnson said. “We’re looking forward to going down there. They got everybody back from last year’s (regular season) championship team except for the shortstop. They’re the favorites and they’re in the role of the favorites right now. But we’ve played pretty good the past few weekends. Hopefully, our game will elevate and be ready to go when we get there. But I know our guys will be excited to go to UTSA and play.”