HUNTSVILLE — After a 55-game regular season that saw a handful of ups and downs, Sam Houston has an opportunity to ride it’s hot streak into the Conference USA Tournament.
The Kats wrapped up CUSA play with back-to-back sweeps of Jax State and Florida International to secure the fourth seed in the tournament, and on the opposite side of the bracket as Dallas Baptist and Western Kentucky, two teams they lost the series to in Conference play.
“Every win matters,” Sam Houston head coach Jay Sirianni said. “Every win allows you to keep getting better. We’ve played well here the last couple of weeks. If you have to pick a month to play well, it might as well be May.”
Getting hot at the right time is just one piece of the puzzle. In May, the Bearkats are 9-1, with their one loss coming in a midweek to the University of Houston. In their wins, the Bearkat offense went off for 62 runs, and two run rules against Jax State.
As a team, the Bearkats saw a team average of .368 in the last six conference games. Starting the hot streak was senior Jeffery David, who has a 26-game hitting streak.
David has been an offensive leader for the Bearkats and finished the regular season with 75 hits, second on the team. David has been around the middle of the order for most of the season and has batted clean-up 35 times this season.
Along with David getting hot is junior Walker Janek, a projected top-30 pick in the upcoming MLB Draft, who leads the team in nearly every offensive statistic this season. Janek boasts a .381 average, just outside the top 50 in college baseball, to lead the team and is a walking hit.
Janek bats in the two-hole for the Kats and opened the season with a 23-game hitting streak. Janek has been the heartbeat of the team on both ends and will need his bat to push through.
With a top-half of the lineup going strong, Sam Houston has seen struggles at points this season. Caleb Cotton has batted leadoff 19 times and if he can get on, he brings speed. Cotton drew 28 walks in the regular season and stole 17 bags.
Freshman Jace Martinez has been the typical nine-hole batter with a .238 average and 40 hits this season. However, he has a solid eye at the plate and drew 47 walks this season to flip the line up over to the top and extend innings.
With a first-round draw against Liberty, the Bearkats will have to hit the drawing board as the Flames kept the Kats at bay offensively. Liberty held Sam Houston to 22 hits in a three-game series and 11 runs.
“A little bit of it is the ability to keep working each day and handling the adversity,” Sirianni said. “We faced good arms all year and sometimes you have to tip your hat to the pitchers. They have been able to keep coming and competing. I’m proud of them.”
On the bump for Sam Houston, they have a set way to do things. Senior Coltin Atkinson has been the Friday starter and started the year strong before a midseason hiccup in the middle of the season.
Atkinson leads the Bearkats with 79 2/3rd innings pitched. Atkinson has been a staple of the Kat’s arsenal and has a 3.62 ERA after 14 starts. Atkinson started the season with a 5-inning outing against Oklahoma State and rode that streak for a while before a weather-impacted start against New Mexico inflated his numbers.
The Lobos tacked him for nine runs and his next outing saw seven runs against Western Kentucky.
Sam Houston found a diamond though. After Marshall Wales was sidelined for a couple of games, Sam Houston had to shift its starting rotation around and saw Michael Watson take over the Saturday role.
Watson recorded a 6-1 record in 12 starts and 16 appearances. Watson finished the regular season with 65 innings pitched and led Sam Houston with 84 strikeouts.
As the Sunday starter has been a bit of a revolving door, Gavi Coldiron has tabbed 12 starts but a 5.77 ERA and 57 2/3rd innings pitched. His longest outing was 6 1/3rd innings against New Mexico State.
Outside of the starting staff, Sam Houston has a lot of arms it can turn to. Logan Hewitt, Wyatt Tucker, Miles Hellums and Rome Shubert have made solid relief appearances.
Chandler David locked down seven saves and has a 4-3 record for the Kats in 45 innings of work and 24 appearances.
“They have been steady pretty much all year and have fallen into their roles of being able to go with short rest,” Sirianni said. “I think throughout the course of the year they have gotten prepared for the next couple of weeks.”
With the tournament set to start Wednesday, Sam Houston will be tasked with beating Liberty to stay in the winners’ bracket. The Flames swept the Kats in Lynchburg as Sam Houston was coming off a series loss to DBU.
Now, the Bearkats will need to knock them off.
“The credit goes to our players in the way they come to work every day,” Sirianni said. “They haven’t gotten high and haven’t gotten low. They have been steady and that sets you up to have a run at it. They are the same group day in and day out.”
Sam Houston and Liberty are slated for a 7:30 p.m. Wednesday first pitch in the Super 1 Foods Conference USA Tournament. The entire tournament will be at JC Love Field in Ruston, Louisiana, and will be streamed on the ESPN+ Platform.
