Sam Houston State head baseball coach Matt Deggs has announced the schedule for the 2015 season, featuring 25 games at Don Sanders Stadium. Deggs’ first season at the helm will feature home games against Baylor, Houston, Rice and Texas A&M.
“This is a great schedule. Sam Houston State has been playing a very competitive schedule for years now,” Deggs said. “This schedule fits with what we want to do, and that’s to play anybody and everybody midweek to try to drive our RPI up. We’ve got seven games against NCAA Regional teams last year, three against SEC schools and six against the Big XII.”
The Bearkats will open the season at home, Feb. 13, with a three-game series against seven-time College World Series participant Wichita State. The Shockers have a rich baseball history, playing in the NCAA Tournament 28 times and winning the National Championship in 1989. In the only meeting between the two teams, Wichita State swept a three-game series in Kansas in 2004.
“Hosting Wichita State just speaks to what Sam Houston has to offer, which is a nationally competitive program and a great facility with great fan support and great weather. Wichita State is once again on the rise. Coach Todd Butler and his staff do a great job. We’ll have to make sure we’re ready to get after it,” said Deggs.
For the fourth consecutive season, Sam Houston will play a home-and-home series with Baylor, Houston and Rice. Over the last three years the Kats are 3-3 against Baylor, 3-3 against Houston and 5-2 against Rice.
Texas A&M will return to “The Don” for the first time since 2013, when the Bearkats won 9-8 in 11 innings. Outfielder Hayden Simerly was 3-for-5 with a three-run homer in the game. SHSU is 3-3 against the Aggies over the last six meetings.
Sam Houston will head to Austin to play Texas for the third straight season. Last year the Kats lost 3-2 to the Longhorns in the Houston College Classic. Two years ago at Disch-Falk Field, SHSU beat Texas 5-3.
“With where we’re located and the caliber of baseball that Sam Houston has played over the years it gives us an opportunity to compete against the bigger schools and to drive that RPI up. This is a competitive schedule that will give us an opportunity to grow and get better as a team,” Deggs said.
The Kats will compete in the Kleberg Bank College Classic (Feb. 20-22) for the first time. Sam Houston will join Missouri, Purdue and the host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the event played at the home of the Houston Astros Double-A affiliate, the Corpus Christi Hooks.
This year’s schedule features a late-season non-conference series against Oklahoma in Norman, Okla. The Kats will take a break from league play to take on the Sooners, April 25-28.
“We have an unbalanced league schedule that allowed us to schedule a program the quality of Oklahoma. This is a great opportunity for our program to get on the road and face a really good program,” Deggs said.
Sam Houston will open defense of its three-straight Southland titles at home against New Orleans (March 6-8).
The New Orleans Privateers as well as Nicholls, Incarnate Word, A&M-Corpus Christi and Lamar will play in Huntsville this season. SHSU will face league road trips to Northwestern State, Central Arkansas, Stephen F. Austin, Abilene Christian and Houston Baptist.
“Any time you’re in conference play, it’s a dog fight. This is a highly competitive league and there are no weekends off. You have to be ready to go and ready to play a 30-game conference season. Our non-conference schedule prepares us for that,” said Deggs.
This year’s Southland Conference Tournament (May 20-23) returns to Constellation Field in Sugar Land, where the 2013 event was held.
The Bearkats return 23 players from a squad that won a third straight Southland regular season title. Those veterans will be joined by 17 newcomers from the high school, junior college and university ranks.
