May 26, 2007

Box Score

NATCHITOCHES, La. - Despite another game in which the Bobcats left everything on the field, Sam Houston State's pitching continued to be stellar at the Southland Conference Tournament and the Bearkats defeated Texas State 3-1 to win the postseason title.

The Bearkats (38-22) now advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996. Texas State concludes its season with a 37-23 record after advancing to the title game for the first time since 2000.

In SHSU's four games during the tournament, the Bearkat pitching staff limited opponents to eight runs and a 2.00 earned run average over 36 innings. Included was a 2-0 shutout over Texas State on day one of the tournament as the fourth-seeded Bearkats upset the No. 3 seed Bobcats to get things going. SHSU went on to beat No. 2 Lamar (7-3) and No. 1 UTSA (5-4) on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Texas State got to the championship by defeating Texas-San Antonio 9-6 in 10 innings Thursday then shutout Stephen F. Austin Friday, 7-0.

On championship Saturday, Tim Gray started and pitched the first five innings. He allowed five hits and one run on his way to picking up his sixth win of the year to go along with three losses. Jacob Howard, Wednesday's starter, relieved and pitched 3.2 innings of one-hit ball to hold the Bearkats 3-1 lead.

Finishing up the contest for SHSU was Luke Prihoda, pitching to one batter to earn his SLC record 17th save of the year. For the tournament, Prihoda picked up a win and two saves to earn tournament most valuable player honors. The senior from Weimar, Texas, pitched six innings without allowing a run.

Texas State's Thomas Field, Aaron Garza and Mike Hart were all named to the SLC all-tournament team following the game.

Texas State took a 1-0 lead with a run in the fourth before SHSU answered with two in the fifth and one in the sixth. Clint Mann knocked in the first run with a groundout. The second came across on a grounder by Keith Stein that Texas State third baseman Austin Boggs couldn't handle.

SHSU added an insurance run in the sixth on a single by Heath Pugh down the left field line that scored Nick Zaleski. The pitching staff and defense did the rest as SHSU made several outstanding defensive plays.

Texas State's only run came when Garza doubled to left field in the fourth and scored off of a Paul Goldschmidt double.

The Bobcats lose nine seniors off this year's squad: Jason Baca, B.J. Boening, Jared Bunn, Pat Crumpton, Justin Fiske, Garza, Casey Guest, Matt Oakes and David Wood.