Sam Houston State baseball hosts McNeese State tonight at Don Sanders Stadium in hopes of breaking its recent slump.
Although both teams are Southland Conference foes, tonight’s game will not be counted towards either team’s conference record. Due to the amount of SLC baseball programs and a 56-game season, tonight will be the only time the two teams face each other in the regular season.
Going into tonight’s matchup, the Kats enter with a 5-7 record as the Cowboys ride a four game winning streak and an 8-4 record. The Kats have lost six of their last eight games after starting the season 3-1.
Even though SHSU and McNeese have played drastically different teams in their first 12 games, the two teams have some similarities offensively on paper. Both teams have a team batting average over .275 and have each hit five home runs in their 12 games. Looking at players that have played in at least 10 of the 12 games, two Kat players have a batting average of .340 compared to the one Cowboy who bats .341. On team averages, both rosters have out-batted their opponents and out-pitched.
Although the Kats have a slight edge in the offensive side of the game, the Cowboys have the edge on the mound. Through their twelve games on the mound, the Cowboys have a team earned runs average of 3.15 compared to the Kats’ 3.63. McNeese’s opposing batters have only hit .211 as Kat opponents are hitting .253.
What happened over the weekend
SHSU dropped all of their games in a three-game series against Louisiana-Monroe in Monroe, La.
The Kats are now 3-7 in their weekend games in the 2015 season.
Friday’s scheduled game was pushed to make a doubleheader Saturday. The Warhawks shut out the Kats 6-0 in game one of the double header as the Kats only recorded four hits on redshirt junior Alex Hermeling’s complete game shutout. SHSU senior Andrew Godail received the loss after giving up five runs on eight hits in his seven innings on the mound.
Game two of the doubleheader was another trouble for the Kats as sophomore Sam Odom lasted 4.3 innings after giving up four earned runs. The Warhawks had another strong performance on the mound as redshirt junior Brandon Bell tossed seven innings and only allowed one earned run on three hits.
The series finale would be another tough outing for the Kats as ULM dropped the Kats 9-1. Four errors burned the Kats as six of the nine Warhawk runs were unearned. Junior Logan Boyd lasted only four innings on the mound and received the loss as he struck out five and walked three. The Kats’ offensive struggles continued as only six hits were recorded in the finale, all by six different players.
SHSU is now 2-6 away from Don Sanders Stadium.
The Kats’ first pitch tonight with McNeese State is set for 6:30 p.m. at Don Sanders Stadium as SHSU looks to get above .500. The Kats then travel to Waco for a 6:30 p.m. game with Baylor on Wednesday.
