Bearkat baseball opens the season with a fast start

Feb. 29—HUNTSVILLE — Sam Houston baseball is through nine games, and they have shown that they can be a force despite the young roster.

The Bearkats hold a 7-2 record and are currently on a five-game win streak following their 3-2 comeback win over the University of Texas Arlington. After nine games, Sam Houston has shown they can win games in multiple fashions.

Offensively, Sam Houston boasts a team average of .303 as they have the mindset of controlling the strike zone and making pitchers work for strikeouts. Over the nine games, the 'Kats average just over six strikeouts a game.

Pitching for the 'Kats has been a little up and down but overall they have been successful. Against UTA, they had a similar pattern. Texas A&M transfer Wyatt Tucker got the start and was tagged for four hits and two runs, but his ability to work out of a jam he got himself into was the main key.

"I thought we did a pretty good job. Wyatt lost it there, Hewey came in and did a really good job. When I took Malachi out of the game I told him 'every game you figure out a way to impact the game.' Today it just happened to be on the mound," Sam Houston head coach Jay Sirianni said.

Arms out of the bullpen are going to be the main key for the Bearkats this season. Logan Hewitt has been one of those arms Sam Houston has had to rely on.

Hewitt is tied with senior Chandler David for most appearances on the Bearkats roster this season with four. Hewitt was a starter for Sam Houston last season but about midway through the year, he switched back to the pen.

The ability to have a long reliever like him in the pen has paid off once already this season.

For the double midweek games, Sam Houston needed four arms to get through the nine innings. Gavi Coldiron grabbed the start for the second time, both in midweek games and had a strong performance in both.

Coldiron has pitched five innings in each outing and has allowed two runs, both against Rice. But for the Kats, the rest of the season will be able some of the arms that are further down the list.

Sam Houston has pitched all but four of their 17 arms in games with three lefties who have stayed in the pen.

"I thought our pitching did a good job. Wyatt got us in a jam for a minute but overall to give up the two in the beginning and to not give up anymore was big," Sirianni said.

One of the main lefties that Sirianni has used is University of Houston transfer Malachi Lott. Lott has come in relief on two occasions and hit his Bearkat high innings against the Mavericks.

Lott pitched 2 2/3rds innings of one-hit baseball and struck out one, but the question will be do they want his bat or arm in the lineup.

"Malachi is just a baseball player and he figures out a way to impact the game. Chandler did a good job and I think he made some adjustments over the week," Sirianni said. "He got after it a little better tonight."

Through nine games David has grown to become the Bearkats closer, a role he shared last year. In his four appearances, he has picked up one save but a five-run outing against Rice has skewed his stats and has him with a 6.00 ERA.

However, Sirianni knows what he is getting from him when he needs to get out of jams as the senior had a 2.34 ERA out of the pen last year with 30 appearances.

"Last year I shared the closing but I just try and do whatever I can to help us win. That is all you can do," David said.

With the Bearkats trying to control the strike zone when at the plate, it has led to them getting hits. Over nine games, Sam Houston has 89 hits and an additional 30 walks to get runners on and bring up extra Bearkat batters.

Junior catcher Walker Janek proves to be one of the best players in College Baseball game in and game out. Janek is following up his breakout sophomore campaign with a .429 average through nine games.

Janek leads the team in average, hits, doubles, RBI and total bases. Newcomer Jeffery David, freshman Jace Martinez and veteran Easton Loyd have been another key piece to the offense.

The four members all have double-digit hits this season and are batting over .350 in about 30 at-bats.

"I think Coach (NAME) Wedd does a good job of telling them it's more about us than them," Sirianni said. "They were able to do it tonight."

One thing that Sam Houston has done well is making teams pay for mistakes. Opposing pitchers have been charged with 49 of the 57 runs the Bearkats have scored this season.

They have also been timely with their hits as 38 of the runs were driven in by Bearkat bats.

While the Bearkats are nine games in, there is still a long way to go before things start getting real.

Sam Houston will be on the road for the better part of March with Conference USA play starting in between.

"I think we are pretty battle-tested. We have played in pretty much everything weather-related," David said. "I think it gets us ready for that. We are a pretty dynamic team, we just have to get after it every day."

The Bearkats will play a weekend series starting Friday at Don Sanders Stadium before an eight-game road trip that includes a visit to the University of Houston and Texas A&M. The Bearkats will open CUSA play on March 15 with a weekend series in Las Cruces, New Mexico.