No. 1 Sam Houston State Advances to Championship Game
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SUGAR LAND, Texas – No. 1 Sam Houston State defeated No. 8 Stephen F. Austin Saturday 8-2 to advance to the 2016 Southland Conference tournament championship game at Constellation Field.
Bearkat junior right-hander Heath Donica held batters hitless though eight innings before giving up two hits in the bottom of the ninth inning while Sam Houston tallied 10 hits against the Lumberjacks.
Sam Houston State scored three runs off of four hits to open the top of the first inning. Senior first baseman Zach Smith doubled down the right field line to score sophomore center fielder Bryce Johnson while advancing junior second baseman Lance Miles to third base. Freshman right fielder Hunter Hearn grounded out while scoring Miles and advancing Smith. Freshman third baseman Andrew Fregia singled through the right side to score Smith for a 3-0 lead.
Miles hit his first home run of the season as he knocked the ball over right field to extend the Bearkats’ lead 4-0 in the top of the third inning.
The Bearkats tacked on another run in the top of the fifth inning for a 5-0 lead against SFA as Smith singled up the middle to score freshman left fielder Clayton Harp.
Harp was hit by a pitch with bases loaded to walk in the 6-0 run from junior catcher Robie Rojas. Miles singled to right field scoring Johnson and junior shortstop Tyler Beene for an 8-0 lead in the top of the sixth inning.
SFA picked up two runs off of two hits in the bottom of the eighth inning in a last-effort chance to keep the season going for the Lumberjacks, but they rally fell short.
No. 1 Sam Houston State will take on No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana in the championship game Sunday at noon at Constellation Field.
The two teams did not meet during the regular season as the Bearkats completed the season with two more wins than the Lions.
The last time the top two seeds face off in the conference championship was in 2011 when No. 1 Texas State shutout No. 2 Stephen F. Austin, 9-0, in Sam Marcos, Texas.
The Lions are 1-2 overall in tournament championship games with their last win in 2014 against Central Arkansas. The Bearkats are 4-2 in tournament championships. Sam Houston State reached the finals in the 2015 season, but fell to a No. 7-seeded Houston Baptist. The Bearkats’ last tournament championship win came in 2009 with a 7-1 win over Texas State.
Sam Houston State Head Coach Matt Deggs
On Heath Donica
“Twenty years of doing this, I don’t think I know that I’ve ever seen an effort that heroic as Heath Donica just put on. He put us on his back and got us to the championship game. He got us to 40 wins. He got his [10th] win of the year. He’s been gigantic. He’s a self-made guy. He’s a grinder and worker. He deserves everything he gets. I was literally praying for him to get that no-hitter there. Game of inches? My foot. That’s a game of half inches. I thought he caught that ball in right field. Great effort by Riley knowing what was on the line. We’re just blessed to be here today. I thought losing that first game, oddly enough, gave us a chance to respond and come out and play with our back against the wall, and sometimes that’s good for us. “It’s that time of year. Desperate times call for desperate measures. He wanted the baseball, and I was happy gave it to him. There was no way I was taking him out of that ball game. He was a horse. He’s a tough kid from Corsicana, Texas. I promise you one thing: he wasn’t coming off that mound… What can I say, I love the kid and he did an incredible job for us today.”
On Stephen F. Austin
“Tip your cap to Stephen F. It’s hard to lose your first game and then win three straight in this league. They gave us all that we wanted, and they did it all year. Tip your cap to those guys; they played their hearts out today. But this team just never stops coming. Just when it looks like things are taking a turn for the worst, these guys get right back up off the mat and respond and just keep coming after you. That’s what you saw right there in the second game headlined by Heath Donica.”
Overview of the game
“This is a great time for us to show everybody what we’re made of, learn how to play with our backs against the wall because I’ll tell you what. When you get into a regional setting, you’re going to get in these situations right here. Every year you look at Omaha that have gone through five, six, seven elimination games to get here. This team is capable of that just because they have a lot of fight in them. They stay together and never stop coming after you.”
Sam Houston State Right-Hander Heath Donica
Overview of the game
“When we got the back in the dugout, coach Deggs looked at me and said, ‘do you want the ball?’, and I said ‘yes sir.’ And he said, ‘you got it. Go get him.’ And that’s just a really good feeling to know that he trusts me to come out there for our guys. I’m going to go out there and work my butt off for these guys every single day. They’re working their butts off for me, making plays left and right, putting up an eight-spot, getting the early lead, which makes it easier to pitch throughout the whole game.”
Stephen F. Austin Head Coach Johnny Cardenas
On the dominance of Sam Houston State starter Heath Donica
“You come out in an elimination game and there has to be something to set the tone. That’s what Donica did this afternoon. He had great command of his curveball and they backed him up early with those three runs in the first. Without a doubt I’m proud of every man on this team for the way we continued to fight. That’s been our m/o all year is to never give up and to try and stay in the game the whole time and fight all the way to the end.”
On getting to 30 wins for the first time since 2011 and the potential for building on that
“When you get through with an elimination game, you’re always looking for something to springboard you into the next season. A run like the one we had can do that as can reaching the 30-win milestone.”
On the choice to go with Ledet to close things out in game one
“Anytime you have a guy like Patrick Ledet come in off of a short rest period and basically tell you, “if the game’s close, I’m coming in,” that says a lot about the character of a young man. It also goes to show how great of a competitor he is and how much it means to him to go out there and get one for his team when our backs are against the wall.”