BearKats30 Posted April 1, 2007 Report Posted April 1, 2007 Game ThreeSAM HOUSTON STATE 10, TEXAS-ARLINGTON 3NCAA Box Score, Play by playHUNTSVILLE -- Clint Mann and Keith Stein each went 3-for-5 to lead Sam Houston State to a 10-3 victory over Texas-Arlington for a Southland Conference series sweep of the Mavericks Sunday at Don Sanders Stadium.Sam Houston State (21-10, SLC 7-2) totaled 15 hits as Bobby Verbick hit two doubles and Karl Krailo added another. Tim Gray (3-2) was the winning pitcher, allowing two hits in six innings while walking one and striking out four. Adam Albright and Casey Springer pitched in relief.Leo Radkowski led the Mavericks with a 2-for-4 day at the plate. Chris Taylor (2-2) was the loser for Texas-Arlington (9-22, SLC 0-9)LINE SCORESam Houston St 10, TX-Arlington 3 (Apr 01, 2007 at Huntsville, TX)----------------------------------------------------------------------TX-Arlington........ 000 001 200 - 3 7 1 (9-22, 0-9 SLC)Sam Houston St...... 050 031 01X - 10 15 0 (21-10, 7-2 SLC)----------------------------------------------------------------------Pitchers: TX-Arlington - Taylor; Carrillo(6); Endsley(8). Sam Houston St - Gray; Albright(7);Springer(7).Win-Gray(3-2) Loss-Taylor(2-2) T-2:27 A-403Game Two SAM HOUSTON STATE 7, TEXAS-ARLINGTON 5 NCAA Box Score, Play by PlayThinking back about 24 hours, catcher Heath Pugh said his team did not play “Bearkat baseball†on Friday night. It's true, Sam Houston State beat Texas-Arlington 3-2, but the Bearkats did it with one critical facet of their game missing. On Saturday, SHSU put it all together again. Playing “Bearkat baseball†for the first time since last Saturday, Pugh and his teammates put another win in the books, this time 7-5 against a struggling Texas-Arlington squad that tied a school record by losing its 11th straight game. Preseason favorites to win the Southland's West Division, the Mavericks (9-21 overall) also lost their eighth consecutive conference game. Jacob Howard, Jon Lindenberger and Luke Prihoda did the job on the mound for SHSU (6-2 in SLC, 20-10 overall). Clint Mann, Keith Stein, Nick Zaleski, Bobby Verbick, Karl Krailo and Pugh banged out 12 hits. And defensively, the Bearkats turned in another near-flawless performance. Stein overran a ball in center field during the Mavericks' three-run eighth inning, but that was the only blip on the Bearkats' error radar. “We turned it up another notch from last night,†said Pugh, who erased an early 1-0 UTA lead with a solo homer to right in the bottom of the third. A sophomore transfer from Navarro College, Pugh drove in another run the next inning with a single to center. The Bearkats took a 3-1 lead in the fifth when Mann scored on Zaleski's sacrifice fly. Then in the sixth, SHSU hung four runs on the board off Mavericks starter Dillon Gee (2-6). With two outs, Mann (4-for-5 with two runs scored) started a long rally when he ripped a single up the middle. Stein followed with a triple to the gap in left-center. Verbick drove in his team-leading 43rd run with a single to left, and Krailo's double brought home Verbick. The Kats made it 7-1 when Krailo scored on Zaleski's bouncer up the gut. That proved to be enough offense to hold off UTA, which scored a single run in the seventh and added three more in the eighth off Lindenberger. Howard (6-2) pitched seven strong innings, giving up six hits, one walk and two runs. The sophomore from West Columbia struck out six. After the Mavericks collected three consecutive hits and a walk off Lindenberger, SHSU coach Mark Johnson brought Prihoda out of the bullpen a night after the senior from Weimar broke a school record for saves in a season. Prihoda gave up three hits, but he coaxed Kyle Rudy to hit into an inning-ending double play in the eighth, then with the tying run on second in the ninth, Prihoda got one of the Mavericks' hottest hitters, Daniel Rieder, to hit a weak grounder back to the mound for the game's final out. Prihoda notched his 11th save of the season and the 16th of his two-year SHSU career. Both are SHSU records. “He's deadly,†Johnson said of his closer, who is a perfect 11-for-11 in converting save opportunities this season. “He doesn't go unscathed a lot of times, but he doesn't give up two hits in an inning often, and he doesn't walk many hitters. I'm impressed with his ability to pitch in the clutch. “Coach (Justin) Hill works with our pitchers a lot on the mental part of the game, and they really seem to be responding to that.†Howard shook off a rocky start and pitched five 1-2-3 innings before allowing three hits and a run in the seventh. He settled down after giving up an RBI single to Danny Slinkman (3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored) in the opening inning. The cagey right-hander got cleanup hitter Mitch Putnam to hit into a double play, then Howard struck out David Newby to end the top of the first. “I felt a little out of sync in the first inning, especially after walking that first guy,†said Howard, who has won all three of his conference starts this spring. “After that it was pretty much trying to find a rhythm and getting the blood flowing.†Howard said he knew the Bearkats would generate some offense, even though runs have been hard to come by since a 17-6 win over A&M-Corpus Christi last Saturday. “I'm super confident in our team. I think our guys can hit against anybody,†Howard said. The Bearkats go for the sweep today at 1 p.m. Senior right-hander Tim Gray (2-2) will be on the mound for SHSU Game One SAM HOUSTON STATE 3, TEXAS-ARLINGTON 2NCAA Box Score, Play by Play Lefty Jesse Marshall throws seven strong innings and Luke Prihoda does the rest. What a lethal combination the Bearkats have found for their Friday night conference games. This week, Marshall pitched 7 1/3 innings, giving up nine hits, two walks and one unearned run against a struggling Texas-Arlington team that battled toe to toe with Sam Houston State. Prihoda took over in the eighth and promptly pitched out of a full-blown jam. With one hiccup, the hard-throwing right-hander from Weimar closed out SHSU's 3-2 victory Prihoda notched his 10th save of the season and broke a school record that stood for 16 years. Richard Zastoupil, who pitched briefly in the Cincinnati Reds organization, saved nine games for SHSU in 1991. Prihoda also recorded his 15th career save, which surpassed Zastoupil's school record of 14. “Our starting pitching is going out there and giving us a chance to win,†said Prihoda, who gave up a solo home run to Ben Burum in the top of the ninth, but is still perfect — 10-for-10 — in converting save opportunities this season. “When our hitters get rolling, it makes it a lot easier on our pitchers. And we're just trying to do what (Roger) Clemens does, keep the games close and give the team a chance to win every time out.†So far, so good for Marshall (6-1), today's starter Jacob Howard (5-2) and Tim Gray (2-2). The Bearkats improved to 5-2 in Southland play Friday and 19-10 overall. Texas-Arlington dropped to 0-7 in the league and 9-20 on the year. SHSU broke a 1-all tie with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Kats finally figured out Mavericks starter Nathan Long (1-4), collecting four hits in the frame, including Karl Krailo's RBI single to center and an infield single by Todd Sebek that plated Bobby Verbick. With Marshall and Prihoda dealing, that, and the run the Kats scored on a Nick Zaleski sacrifice fly in the opening inning, proved to be enough. “We worked on hitting the ball up the middle this week, and we did that tonight, but the pitcher got in the way a few times,†Bearkats coach Mark Johnson joked. “We got closer with our swings, but we didn't tear it up. “The story tonight was Jesse Marshall and Luke Prihoda throwing well and giving us a chance to win. This was a typical Friday night game, a pitchers' duel, and those two guys did their jobs.†Marshall was not as sharp as he was last week in a 3-0 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. But when he got into trouble Friday, the crafty southpaw from nearby Montgomery bore down and found ways to escape. He did it in the third inning, striking out Mavericks cleanup man Matthew Otteman with two runners on base. The senior did it again in the fourth, getting catcher David Masters to bounce out to shortstop Jeremy Holzbach with two more men aboard. Marshall, who fanned seven, even helped his cause with a nifty pickoff move. Twice, SHSU's ace caught a Mavericks baserunner either too far from the bag or leaning toward the next base. Prihoda did the same in the ninth, throwing over to Krailo to catch pinch runner Collin Garner for the game's penultimate out. With the tying run on first, Prihoda got Daniel Rider to bounce out to put the capper another impressive victory. Weather permitting, the Kats and Mavericks play game two of the series today at 2 p.m. Junior right-hander Dillon Gee (2-5, 4.82) will oppose Howard in today's contest.
BearKats30 Posted April 1, 2007 Author Report Posted April 1, 2007 Mark Johnson seems to be turning the program around in only his 1st season!
Ty Cobb Posted April 2, 2007 Report Posted April 2, 2007 You beat me to the post, Bearkats30. The Kats are 7-2 in the SLC. I'm loving it!!!
BearKats30 Posted April 3, 2007 Author Report Posted April 3, 2007 Big series at the Bobkitties from over near Austin. They are 21-9 overall and 8-1 in conference. We need at least 2 of 3 if not all 3!
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