Published: April 25, 2008 01:09 am            

Red-hot Kats head to first-place UTSA

SHSU baseball in thick of SLC title race

As the Sam Houston State baseball squad heads into the stretch run, the Bearkats find themselves smack in the middle of a battle for the regular-season Southland Conference championship.

The Kats (12-6 in SLC, 26-15 overall) have been red-hot in league action lately, having swept their last two series against Lamar and McNeese State to move into third place in the West Division. Sam Houston heads to Texas-San Antonio for a key SLC series this weekend against the Roadrunners, who are currently in first place at 14-4 and 29-12 overall this season.

“First of all, we just need to enjoy this time of year,” SHSU head coach Mark Johnson said Thursday afternoon. “When you get in the stretch run a lot of teams start getting pressured and worked up, but really the stretch run is why you play. Our players have put us into a position to fight for a championship, and we still have a lot of games left.”

The Bearkats are playing with a lot of confidence right now. Sam Houston has won nine of its last 11 games. The two loses came to nationally ranked Houston and Rice by a combined four runs.

The reason for the Kats’ success has been a solid season at the plate. Sam Houston has 11 players who are batting .300 or better, and the team boasts a team batting average of .340.

Leading the way is center fielder Keith Stein, who has started all 41 games and is hitting .387 with a team-high 42 RBIs. The Bearkats are getting production up and down the lineup. Ryan Trevino (.376), Todd Sebek (.362), Seth Hammock (.360), Jamie Rohlmeier (.350) and All-American Bobby Verbick (.344) have driven in a combined 155 runs.

Sam Houston is going to need that type of production this weekend against Texas-San Antonio. The Roadrunners are just as hot, having won eight of their last nine and have also swept back-to-back SLC series against Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin.

“They are a very solid team so it is going to take more than just hitting the ball,” said Stein, who is third on the team in home runs with seven behind Verbick (11) and Hammock (10). “We need to play solid defense. We have been relying on our hitting a little bit but lately we have been playing complete baseball. As long as we continue to do that, we have a chance to beat anybody.”

While the offense has carried the Kats so far, the young pitching staff is really starting to shine. Sam Houston will start sophomore Ryan Tepera (3-2, 4.31 ERA), freshman Dallas Gallant (4-2, 5.45 ERA) and junior college transfer Guillaume Duguay (2-0, 3.49) this weekend.

The starting trio we close to perfect in the series sweep of McNeese State last weekend, combining to pitch 23 innings and each gave up only one earned run.

“I like where we are at because we are finally going to go more than one weekend in a row on the same starters, and that is kind of nice,” Johnson said. “We have been moving our pitching around so much, and we are still working on our guys coming out of the bullpen.

“But those three pitchers have done well their last three outings and have been pitching well.”

        

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