Baseball season is a little more than halfway over for Sam Houston, as 41 games have come and gone.
The Bearkats currently sit with an 18-23 record after knocking off Baylor in a midweek matchup at Don Sanders Stadium. The win keeps the Bearkats' streak alive, moving it to four games after an 11-game losing streak.
Before it, the Kats swept New Mexico State in Las Cruces to get to 7-11 in CUSA play and move up the standings to the ninth seed, sitting right at the cut line for the conference tournament.
“We’ve been down on our luck, but we never quit competing and working at it. That is where you have to be proud of these guys,” Sam Houston head coach Jay Sirianni said. “These guys came in every day as the same team. Yeah, we had some rough luck and ran into some pretty good teams, but we have played hard.”
To this point, the biggest question the Bearkats have brought to the table has been the offensive output.
In CUSA play, Sam Houston’s offense ranks 8th in runs scored at 94 runs in 18 games. Missouri State leads CUSA with 168 runs in 18 games. Part of the problem was the Bearkats missing one of their top hitters in Ryan Franden.
Franden has missed 13 games for the Kats and sits fourth on the team in total hits with 35, but his true strength comes from his ability to drive in runs. Despite the missed games, Franden leads Sam Houston with 26 RBI.
The next highest is Hunter Alvord with 23, who has logged 42 more at-bats than Franden.
Sirianni placed Franden in the lead-off spot for the seventh time Tuesday night against Baylor, and it led to a lead-off home run and two walks for the junior.
“Jace and the guys at the bottom have been getting on. Franey is just a lead-off to start the game. After that, he’s kind of in his normal spot. He has done a good job,” Sirianni said. “Tonight, he hit a jack, but that was big enough to give us a good start.”
Outside of Franden, the offense has seen senior Jeric Curtis take charge, along with true freshman Cade Corcoran and junior Caleb Cotton. The trio has 130 of the Bearkats 324 hits.
Curtis, a transfer from Missouri, leads Sam Houston with 46 hits; each Cotton and Corcoran has 42 each. The problem has become getting those guys in once they get on the bases, but over the last two weeks, Sam Houston has seen that happen.
“We’ve known they can do it. They get so many barrels every game, stuff just didn’t fall their way,” pitcher Zak Johnson said. “Seeing them get the clutch hits, it’s been great to see all the hard work they’ve been doing is paying off.”
As the offense has started to catch up to the pitching staff, which has seen more success to this point.
Friday night starter Ryan Peterson has been the mainstay in the rotation as the Friday night guy. Peterson has started every Friday night for the Kats and has garnered numerous honors along the way.
Peterson is the only qualified pitcher for Sam Houston this season, with 61.2 innings pitched. He boasts a 2.77 ERA, but has a 4-4 record. On some of the nights he’s pitched, the offense didn’t have the support. His signature win came on the opening game against Western Kentucky, when he tossed a complete game shutout of the Hilltoppers.
Outside of Peterson, the weekend rotation has been in flux, with freshman Collin Aloisio getting the original second game starts. Aloisio started his run with a 1.35 ERA before getting into CUSA play.
Aloisio started to struggle in CUSA play, where teams started to get to him early. His last start came against Missouri State, where he was pulled after recording just three outs.
Tyler Ryden has taken on the second day role and has started to steer the ship in the right direction, but it still feels like a work in progress. Ryden was pulled after 2.2 innings against the Aggies. He allowed four hits, four runs and walked three batters.
One role on the staff does seem solidified tough, and that has been Johnson as the closer. Johnson has five saves on the year, with two of those coming in the last four games Sam Houston has played.