Sam Houston State baseball travels to Austin as the Bearkats face the Texas Longhorns today at 6 p.m.
SHSU and Texas faced off last season in the Houston College Classic as the Longhorns took a 3-2 victory to win the Classic.
The 19-19 Kats go into Austin riding a five-game winning streak, including a series sweep against Incarnate Word this past weekend. The series caps the Bearkats’ first sweep of the season since its victories over the University of New Orleans at the beginning of March.
The 19-17 Longhorns enter the mid-week game coming off a 2-1 series victory over Red River Rival, the University of Oklahoma. The Longhorns are 2-9 in their last 11 games though, including a seven-game losing streak.
The Kats bat .288 at the plate, fourth in the SLC. The Longhorns are hitting .246 at the dish, dead last in the Big 12. SHSU has a team ERA of 3.72 compared to the UT’s 2.87. The Kats have a .956 fielding percentage compared to the .977 of the Longhorns.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
The Kats hosted Southland Conference foe Incarnate Word this past weekend as SHSU swept their second weekend series of the season.
Weather changed the series as the two teams played a doubleheader Friday and the series finale Saturday.
After a three-hour rain delay, SHSU pumped out 13 hits in game one as the bottom of the lineup recorded six RBIs in the 9-2 win.
Junior second baseman Zach Smith went 2-for-4 at the dish with a solo bomb in the second inning. Smith also added three RBIs and three runs.
Juniors Ryan Brinley, Miles Manning and Collin Yelich combined for five hits on eleven appearances at the plate with five runs and three RBIs.
Senior southpaw Andrew Godail allowed four hits and an unearned run in his six innings on the mound. Godail threw three strike outs and picked up his second win of the season.
In game two, SHSU jumped to an early 5-0 lead in the first three innings.
The Cardinals tied the game in the fourth inning but were shut out the rest of the game.
The Kats took the lead in the fifth and added an insurance run in the eighth to take the 7-5 victory and sweep of the doubleheader.
Four Kats recorded two or more hits as senior outfielder Colt Atwood who went 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI.
Junior lefty Logan Boyd earned his fourth win of the season on the mound despite giving up five runs. Boyd allowed nine hits and four walks but struck out eight in his five and two-thirds innings on the mound.
In Saturday’s finale, sophomore righty Sam Odom pitched a complete game shutout for SHSU in the 5-0 Kats victory. Odom allowed four hits, walked none and struck out 10 in his strong performance on the mound to win his second game of the season.
Freshman outfielder Bryce Johnson led the team at the plate going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run. All of the Kats runs came in the middle third of the game.
The series sweep moves SHSU to 11-7 in the SLC and drops UIW to 2-13.
SHSU continues SLC play this weekend as the Kats travel to Abilene Christian for a three-game series.