he Bobcats lead the Southland Conference with a .338 collective batting average and feature the conference’s top hitter, Spenser Dennis, who is batting .428.-Courtesy: Southland.org
FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
Texas State has a 2 ½-game lead ahead of Southeastern Louisiana with two weeks remaining, but the Lions are riding a season-best eight game win streak. A total of four teams – Texas State, Southeastern Louisiana, UT Arlington and Lamar – have already secured bids to the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament which gets underway May 20 at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, Texas. Four spots are up for grabs with six conference games to play. The next four teams – Sam Houston State, UTSA, Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin are in the best shape since 3 ½ games separate the eighth- and ninth-place teams, but no team has been mathematically eliminated.
This weekend, Texas State plays host to Nicholls State and Southeastern Louisiana plays host to Stephen F. Austin. Other matchups include Northwestern State at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Sam Houston State at Central Arkansas, UT Arlington at Lamar and UTSA at McNeese State.
Tournament Tickets on Sale
Tickets for the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament, which will be played May 20-23 at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, Texas, are now on sale through the Whataburger Field box office, by calling 361-561-HOOk (4665) or by going Online to www.cchooks.com. Tournament passes, the best value, are $50 for all games of the double-elimination event. Daily adult tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for youth 17-and-under. Southland Conference students with valid institutional ID are admitted free of charge.
Central Arkansas
18-26, 9-18 Southland
Central Arkansas was swept at Northwestern State last week … the Bears have lost 5 of their last 6 games and 12 of their last 14 … Tye Throneberry leads the team with a .356 average though Dillon Smith is the team leader with 62 hits and 39 RBI … Jonathan Yerby has hit 12 home runs, which is tied for third in the conference … Jeremy Cloud owns the lowest ERA among UCA’s starting pitchers at 4.87 and paces the squad with 51 strikeouts … he is 4-5 with five complete games … Bobby Pritchett has picked up five saves to go with a 3-4 record … Reece Cross has a 3.13 ERA in seven Southland appearances.
Lamar
32-18, 16-11 Southland
Lamar has won 8 of its last 9 games and was 4-1 last week with a pair of wins against Louisiana-Monroe and McNeese State … Lamar is one of four teams to have already qualified for the conference tournament … right fielder Quentin Luquette was the Southland Hitter of the Week after batting 11-for-22 with nine RBI, five runs and three doubles … he also had three multi-hit games … Brian Taylor leads the Cardinals with a .374 average … Tyler Links paces the Southland with 67 runs scored and Steven Tucker’s 17 doubles are tied for fourth … Eric Harrington continues to pace the Southland with a 1.70 ERA.
McNeese State
20-25, 9-18 Southland
The Cowboys have won just once in their last nine games, an 8-4 home victory vs. Lamar in the second game last weekend … McNeese State is third in the Southland in batting with a .316 average though team leader Matt Fontenot ranks 15th with his .358 average … seven everyday players average better than .300 … Lee Orr is tied for third in the league with 43 RBI and has stolen 16-of-18 bases to rank among the Southland leaders … McNeese has a 7.01 ERA to rank 10th in the league … eight pitchers have 20.0 or more innings … Jordan LeGros has four saves … Tommy Luce leads team with 40 strikeouts.
Nicholls State
18-28, 8-19 Southland
Nicholls State has won just once in its last 11 games, an 11-5 victory at New Orleans last Wednesday … will try to snap a nine-game conference skid this weekend at Texas State, the conference leader … Scott Moseley leads the team with a .356 batting average, 62 hits, 12 doubles and 37 RBI … Colonels have hit just 10 home runs this season including four by Keith Kulbeth … Chris Murrill leads the Southland with seven triples … he leads the conference with 26 stolen bases (30 attempts) … Jarret Dunnam’s 3.53 ERA is fourth in the league … Nicholls’ 4.59 ERA is third in the league. Ross Larson has six saves.
Northwestern State
21-22, 13-12 Southland
Northwestern State was 4-0 last week with a non-conference win vs. UL-Lafayette to go with a three-game sweep of Central Arkansas … Ryan Zimmerman was named the Southland Pitcher of the Week on Monday after striking out eight batters and walking none in 8 1/3 innings in a 1-0 shutout of Central Arkansas last Friday … it was his first win of the season … Joe Urtuzuastegui leads the Demons with a .377 batting average, which ranks 11th in the Southland … Jimmy Heard is 6-3 and is one of seven pitchers in the league with at least six victories … Chad Sheppard has eight saves to rank third in the league.
Sam Houston State
29-19, 15-12 Southland
The Bearkats snapped a six-game losing streak with a 9-2 win at Stephen F. Austin in the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday … had won 10 consecutive games before the skid … Nick Zaleski leads Sam Houston and is third in the conference with a .424 batting average … Braeden Riley is batting .412 to rank fifth … Riley’s 94 hits paces the league while Zaleski ranks fourth with 78 … Zaleski is also fourth with 53 RBI and with 118 total bases … Sean Weatherford leads the Bearkats and ranks seventh in the league with a 3.72 ERA … he also has four saves … Jacob Howard is the top Bearkat with 53 strikeouts.
Southeastern Louisiana
31-17, 18-9 Southland
Southeastern Louisiana is the hottest team in the Southland having rattled off eight consecutive wins to climb into second place in the standings … the Lions won a school record 10 in a row in 1997 … SLU is one of four teams to have already secured a bid to the conference tournament … Brandon Street leads the team with a .348 batting average, seven home runs and 51 RBI … Ty Summerlin’s 20 doubles are tied for the conference lead … Ryan Boudreaux is 6-2 and his 3.84 leads the Lions and ranks eighth in the Southland … Chris Franklin’s 11 saves is tied for the league lead.
Stephen F. Austin
21-25, 12-14 Southland
The Lumberjacks are making a late-season push having won six of their last eight games and maintain a 3 1/2-game lead for the eighth and final spot in the conference tournament … close conference play with series against Southeastern Louisiana and Lamar … Sean Meyers is batting .404 and ranks seventh in the Southland … he also paces the team with 69 hits, six home runs and 46 RBI … Tanner Hines is fifth in the Southland with 15 stolen bases … Erich Lehmann is 6-3 with a 4.50 ERA and leads the team with 43 strikeouts … Richard Folmer is tied for the league lead with 11 saves.
UT Arlington
26-21, 17-10 Southland
UT Arlington snapped a three-game losing streak by sweeping A&M-Corpus Christi last weekend … one of four teams to have already secured bids to the conference tournament … Andrew Kainer ran his hit streak to 34 games, tying the Southland record … Matt Otteman leads the Mavs and is second in the Southland with a .427 batting average … Kainer is batting .418 to rank fourth … Otteman ranks third with 78 hits, second with 55 RBI, second with six triples and third with 120 total bases … Nathan Long’s 3.32 ERA is third in the Southland while Ryan Robinson’s 3.58 ranks fifth … Long’s 84 strikeouts lead the league.
UTSA
26-21, 15-12 Southland
UTSA has lost three of four games after winning six in a row … won at Texas State last Friday but dropped the final two games of the series in San Antonio, including a 5-3, 11-inning decision … Michael Rockett’s .386 average ranks 10th in the Southland … his 81 hits rank second while his 130 total bases paces the league … Jose Hernandez is third with 19 doubles and his 12 home runs are tied for third … Red Patterson leads the Roadrunners with five victories and is third in the Southland with 67 strikeouts … Zach Calhoon has six saves … UTSA has hit 60 home runs this season and has three players with at least 10.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
17-33, 8-19 Southland
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi has lost four consecutive games and has almost no margin of error in the last two weekends of conference play if it wants to make the conference tournament it is playing host to at the hometown Whataburger Field … closes league play with series against Northwestern State and Sam Houston State … Martin Parra leads the Islanders with a .335 batting average, 64 hits and is tied with Stephen Flora for the team lead with 40 RBI … Trey Hernandez is one of five Southland players to have hit at least 12 home runs … Hernandez has four saves to pace the team.
Texas State
33-12, 20-6 Southland
Texas State leads the Southland by 2 1/2 games with six games to play … a loss at No. 8 Texas last week ended a 12-game win streak … followed with a loss in the opening game to UTSA but responded with a pair of road wins … Texas State leads the Southland in batting (.338) and fielding (.971) and its 5.05 ERA ranks fifth … Spenser Dennis owns the league’s top batting average at .428 … Paul Goldschmidt paces the league with 71 RBI and 14 home runs … team has hit 60 home runs though only Goldschmidt has a double-digit tally … Kane Holbrooks is 9-1 leading the Southland in wins and his 3.26 ERA is second.
