FAYETTEVILLE — College baseball games played in February usually don’t mean much, but the series opener for Sam Houston State this season was an exception.
The B earkats won 2 of 3 from San Diego and established a winning foundation under Coach David Pierce, who in his first season and will lead his team into a first-round game against Arkansas at 1 p.m. Central on Friday at the NCAA Houston Regional.
Pierce was named the Southland Conference’s coach of the year after guiding Sam Houston State to a 38-20 record that included a 13-game winning streak.
The series victory over San Diego was significant, considering the Toreros also made the NCAA Tournament with a 40-15 record.
“That’s where it all started, with that series victory over San Diego,” said Pierce, who spent nine years as an assistant at Rice before accepting the Sam Houston State job. “We brought in a new coaching staff with new terminology, and the older guys mixed well with our younger guys. We’ve got five seniors on this team, and they’re the ones, mostly, who led the way and helped us become a team.”
Pierce had only three returning starters to work with after he took over for former coach Mark Johnson, who retired after 41 years, including the past five years at Sam Houston State. Pierce added 16 newcomers to the roster for the Bearkats, who went on to win their first conference championship since 1989. Sam Houston State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after being eliminated by Texas-Arlington in the Southland Conference Tournament.
Pierce and his players were relieved Monday when Sam Houston State’s name finally appeared on TV after the field for 14 of the 16 regional tournaments had been revealed.
“We were really sweating it out at the end,” said Pierce, whose team also split two games with Rice this season. “I thought our body of work would get us in, but you just never know what the selection committee is thinking.
“But the wait was worth it ,and I was very excited for our players once our name was finally announced. We didn’t really care where we went, just as long as we were in the tournament.”
Third-seeded Sam Houston State will make only a 70-mile drive to Reckling Park in Houston to face second-seeded Arkansas, which is in the NCAA Tournament for the 11th consecutive season. The Razorbacks will start righthander DJ Baxendale (7-4, 3.02 ERA) on Friday against left-hander Caleb Smith (8-4, 3.00 ERA) or right-hander Justin Jackson (8-4, 3.03 ERA).
“Arkansas plays in the SEC, which is the toughest conference in the country, arguably,” Pierce said. “Coach [Dave] Van Horn has won everywhere he’s been, and he’s got a good team this year with some power pitchers on the mound.
“They’re a very tough draw, but our guys are excited about the challenge.”
Sam Houston State is a young team with three freshmen and two sophomores who appear regularly in its lineup. The Bearkats led the Southland Conference with a .295 batting average, but were only ninth in the league with 16 home runs.
“I coached seven years in that conference, as a head coach and as an assistant, and I have great respect for that conference,” said Arkansas assistant Todd Butler, who was head coach at Southland member McNeese State in 2001-2003. “They got two teams into regionals this year when they usually get one bid.
“[Sam Houston State] plays outstanding ball, they have a very good coach, and we’ve got to be prepared.”
At a glance
SAM HOUSTON STATE
LOCATION Huntsville, Texas CONFERENCE Southland NICKNAME Bearkats 2012 RECORD 38-20, 24-9 Southland COACH David Pierce (38-20 in first season at Sam Houston State) KEY PLAYERS DH Anthony Azar (.382, 3 HRs, 35 RBI), 3B Kevin Miller (.324, 2 HRs, 33 RBI), OF Colt Atwood (.317, 37 runs, 10 2Bs), RPH Michael Oros (7-1, 2.67 ERA), RPH Justin Jackson (8-4, 2.93 ERA), LHP Caleb Smith (8-5, 3.00 ERA) TEAM BATTING AVERAGE .295 TEAM ERA 3.42 LAST NCAA APPEARANCE 2009 NOTEWORTHY Pierce was an assistant coach at Rice the previous nine seasons
Sports, Pages 19 on 05/30/2012