Sam Houston State Bearkats baseball


The Sam Houston State Bearkats baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, United States. The team is a member of the Southland Conference, an athletic conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The team plays its home games at Don Sanders Stadium.

History

The first Sam Houston State baseball team was fielded in 1906 and was the university's first collegiate athletic team. The modern era for the Bearkats baseball team began in 1949, and the Sam Houston State athletic department does not include any statistics prior to the season in the program's record books. Since 1949, however, Sam Houston State baseball has been one of the most productive sports out of all the university athletic programs. The Bearkats boast an overall 1732-1134-7 WLT record from 1949 through the 2012 season. The Bearkats claim one national title from the NAIA World Series in 1963.

The Malone years (1949–1956)

To begin the modern era, Hayden "Hap" Malone, former graduate and professor of Physical Education at SHSTC was hired as the head baseball coach in 1949. As a NAIA independent in baseball, Hap Malone's Bearkats saw mixed results in his first 6 years as the Bearkats head coach. The program was quite successful from 1949 through 1950 as the Bearkats posted a combined 24–14 record in those two seasons. The next two seasons saw two losing records,. The 1953 and 1954 seasons were both winning seasons, with the Bearkats posting a 20 win record in 1954. However, the roller coaster ride was not over and the Kats once again fell into mediocrity in 1955–56. After the 1956 season resulting in 10–18 record, their lowest win total to date, Coach Malone was relieved of his duties. Hap Malone was inducted into Sam Houston State's Hall of Honor in 1971.

The Benge supremacy (1957–1968)

To right the ship left by Hap Malone, Sam Houston hired Ray Benge as the new head coach of the Bearkats. Ray Benge formerly pitched for Sam Houston State in the early twenties before being drafted by the Phillies and playing 12 years in the Major Leagues. Benge proved to be the cure to ail all of the Bearkats woes as his teams never saw a losing record. Benge took the Bearkats to six straight NAIA Baseball World Series appearances including one national championship win in 1963 over Grambling. He finished with a 237–102 record and was inducted into SHSU's Hall of Honor with Hap Malone in 1971.

The Bob Britt years (1969–1975)

Despite being the university's shortest tenured coach, Bob Britt continued the success of the baseball squad following Benge's departure. Like his predecessor, Britt also never head a losing season. He also coached the Bearkats to two NAIA Area Playoff berths in 1969 and 1970, and three NAIA World Series appearances in 1972, 1974, and in 1975 which all were top 3 finishes with the latter two seasons being national runner-up years. Britt also coached Sam Houston to its first two 40-win seasons in 1974 and 1975. He retired from coaching following the 1975 season, but continued to teach Physical Education as a professor at Sam Houston State until 1995. Britt was inducted into Sam Houston State's Hall of Honor in 1979.

The John Skeeters era (1976–2002)

Coach John Skeeters was Sam Houston State's longest tenured baseball coach with over 25 years as the Bearkats' head coach. He picked up right were Britt left off as the Skeeters led Bearkats to winning seasons in his first 16 years as head coach. During this stretch, the Bearkats saw post-season action in 9 different years, including 4 NAIA Area Playoff berths from 1979 through 1982.
In 1984, the Bearkats moved into NCAA Division II and stayed here for three years as an independent and later as a member of the Gulf Star Conference. In Division II, the Bearkats were selected to the regional playoffs in all three years. The Bearkats also were the Gulf Star Champions in 1985 and 1986.
In 1987, the Gulf Star Conference moved up into Division I. In addition to winning the Gulf Star Conference championship in 1987, Sam Houston State also earned a berth into its first Division I regional thanks to a 44–18–1 record, its highest win total to date.
The Bearkats moved to the Southland Conference in 1988 and while they struggled in conference play, they still managed to earn a winning record, finishing 32–25. Despite a rough first season in the Southland, Sam Houston quickly acclimated to its new home and won the 1989 conference championship. In addition to the championship, Sam Houston earned a berth to the NCAA regionals. Following the 1989 season, the Bearkats would not win another conference championship again until Coach Pierce took over in 2012, and would only go to the NCAA regionals once more under Coach Skeeters.
Following four straight losing seasons from 1999–2002, Skeeters decided to resign as head coach of the Sam Houston State Bearkats. His overall mark of 860 wins and 628 losses will cement his legacy as the longest tenured coach for years to come.

Chris Rupp's Bearkats (2003–2006)

Chris Rupp was hired following Skeeters' resignation prior to the 2003 season. In his four years as head coach, Rupp's teams failed to finish with a winning season. In 2006, he resigned as the head coach and finished with an overall record of 86–123 record.

The Mark Johnson years (2007–2012)

, former Texas A&M coaching legend and member of the American Baseball Coaches Association and Texas Baseball halls of fame, took over as head coach a little more than a month after Rupp's resignation and immediately began working on improving the baseball team. Johnson brought in two full-time assistants to his coaching staff, a luxury the previous two Bearkats coaches did not have. There was seemingly no rebuilding stage for the Bearkats, as Johnson led Sam Houston to a 40–24 record his first year as coach, only a year removed from a 23–31 season under Chris Rupp. Since Johnson joined the Bearkat staff as head coach, the team saw post season action in 4 of his 5 seasons at Sam Houston, including 3 NCAA regional appearances.

Under David Pierce (2012–2014)

2012

David Pierce, who joined the staff in 2011 from Rice, continued where Johnson left off, as the 2012 baseball team saw its best ever Regional finish and coached the Bearkats to its first outright league title in 23 years. The 2012 Bearkats lost in the regional title game to Arkansas, who would eventually go on to become a Super Regional Champion to earn a berth in the College World Series. Coach Pierce would later win both the Southland Conference Coach of the Year and the ABCA Coach of the Year at the end of the season.

2013

The start of the 2013 season came with very high expectations for Coach Pierce and the Bearkats. Coming into the season, the Kats received votes in the NCBWA poll and was picked to repeat as Southland Conference champions by the Coaches' and SID polls. After a disappointing 3–4 start, the Bearkats would go on to beat then #22 ranked Texas in Austin, and then #19 ranked Rice in Houston to right the ship. Following these big games, however, Sam Houston would lose back to back series' against UCONN and Dallas Baptist. Following these games, the Bearkats went 13–8 in their next 21, including wins over #17 Rice and #19 Houston, but lost a major home series to Oral Roberts which dropped SHSU's Ratings Percentage Index far enough down to put an at-large bid for the 2013 regionals in jeopardy. Sam Houston accepted the challenge and worked its way back to finish the season going 13–1 after the Oral Roberts series, earning the #27 spot in the Collegiate Baseball poll. On May 17, 2013, Sam Houston State clinched its second straight outright Southland Conference Title with a 4–0 shutout of Central Arkansas. Following the regular season, Coach Pierce would win the Conference Coach of the Year award yet again, and would earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament Baton Rouge Regional after failing to win the Southland Conference Tournament. In the NCAA tournament, the Bearkats defeated Louisiana-Lafayette in the first game 4–2 behind Luke Plucheck's 3 RBIs. In the winner's bracket, Sam Houston faced regional host and #1 overall LSU Tigers. With the help of a 5 run first inning the Bearkats led the top ranked Tigers 5–4 until the 8th inning. Sam Houston could not upset the Tigers, losing in heartbreaking fashion 8–5. In the last day of the Baton Rouge regional, Sam Houston faced the Ragin' Cajuns for the second time in three days. Sam Houston would jump out to a 3–0 lead, but errors would send the Bearkats home early, as they lost the final game of the season 5–7.

SHSU career coaching records

Year-by-year results

YearDivisionOverall RecordConference RecordNotes
1949Hap Malone15–5–First season in modern era.
1950Hap Malone19–9–
1951Hap Malone11–13–
1952Hap Malone11–14–
1953Hap Malone14–11–
1954Hap Malone20–7–
1955Hap Malone12–15–
1956Hap Malone10–18–
1957Ray Benge17–8–
1958Ray Benge15–6–
1959Ray Benge13–3–
1960Ray Benge23–11–NAIA World Series
1961Ray Benge19–11–NAIA World Series
1962Ray Benge22–11–NAIA World Series
1963Ray Benge27–8-NAIA National Champions
1964Ray Benge27–8–NAIA World Series
1965Ray Benge22–8–NAIA World Series
1966Ray Benge16–12–
1967Ray Benge20–7–
1968Ray Benge16–9–
1969Bob Britt24–11–NAIA Area Playoffs
1970Bob Britt33–9–NAIA Area Playoffs
1971Bob Britt23–18–
1972Bob Britt33–13–NAIA World Series
1973Bob Britt27–12–
1974Bob Britt42–11–NAIA World Series
1975Bob Britt43–14–NAIA World Series
1976John Skeeters30–20–
1977John Skeeters37–16–
1978John Skeeters33–20–1–
1979John Skeeters38–14–NAIA Area Playoffs
1980John Skeeters40–16–NAIA Area Playoffs
1981John Skeeters38–18–NAIA Area Playoffs
1982John Skeeters33–23–NAIA Area Playoffs
1983John Skeeters33–23–1–
1984John Skeeters42–18–NCAA Division II Regionals
1985John Skeeters35–2112–6NCAA Division II Regionals
1986John Skeeters45–1716–4NCAA Division II Regionals
1987John Skeeters44–18–117–3NCAA Regionals
1988John Skeeters32–2511–10
1989John Skeeters31–2313–5NCAA Regionals
1990John Skeeters34–22–111–6
1991John Skeeters33–179–5
1992John Skeeters28–2810–11
1993John Skeeters30–2613–9Southland Tournament
1994John Skeeters29–2415–9Southland Tournament
1995John Skeeters22–3210–14
1996John Skeeters31–2915–15
1997John Skeeters26–2717–11Southland Tournament, NCAA Regionals
1998John Skeeters29–2812–10Southland Tournament
1999John Skeeters22–238–19
2000John Skeeters25–2914–13Southland Tournament
2001John Skeeters19–318–19
2002John Skeeters21–339–18
2003Chris Rupp20–339–18
2004Chris Rupp19–30–111–14
2005Chris Rupp24–29–213–14
2006Chris Rupp23–3112–18
2007Mark Johnson40–2418–12Southland Tournament, NCAA Regionals
2008Mark Johnson37–2518–12Southland Tournament, NCAA Regionals
2009Mark Johnson36–2418–14Southland Tournament, NCAA Regionals
2010Mark Johnson19–3611–22
2011Mark Johnson35–2417–16Southland Tournament
2012David Pierce40–2224–9Southland Tournament, NCAA Regionals
2013David Pierce38–2220–7Southland Tournament, NCAA Regionals
2014David Pierce44–1920–7Southland Tournament, NCAA Regionals
2015Matt Deggs31–2817–12Southland Tournament
2016Matt Deggs42–2224–6Southland Tournament, NCAA Regionals
2017Matt Deggs44–2319–11Southland Tournament, NCAA Regionals, NCAA Super Regionals
2018Matt Deggs39–2024–6Southland Tournament

Source:

Post season appearances

Conference tournaments

YearConferenceRecord%Finished
1993Southland2–2.5002nd
1994Southland0–2.0004th
1996Southland4–01.000Champions
1997Southland2–2.5003rd
1998Southland2–2.5003rd
2000Southland1–2.3334th
2007Southland4–01.000Champions
2008Southland4–01.000Champions
2009Southland4–01.000Champions
2011Southland1–2.3335th
2012Southland2–2.5003rd
2013Southland1–2.3335th
2014Southland1–2.3335th
2015Southland3–2.6002nd
2016Southland4–1.800Champions
2017Southland4-01.000Champions
2018Southland1-2.3335th
Total39–20.66116 Appearances

National tournaments

YearDivisionRecord%Notes
1960NAIA2–2.500CWS 4th place
1961NAIA1–1.500CWS 5th place
1962NAIA1–2.333CWS 6th place
1963NAIA4–01.000NAIA National Champions
1964NAIA1–2.333CWS 4th place
1965NAIA2–2.500CWS 4th place
1969NAIA2–2.500Area Playoffs 2nd place
1970NAIA1–2.333Area Playoffs 2nd place
1972NAIA5–3.625Area Champions, CWS 3rd place
1974NAIA6–2.750Area Champions, CWS Runner-Up
1975NAIA7–3.700Area Champions, CWS Runner-Up
1979NAIA2–2.500Area Runner-Up
1980NAIA1–2.333Area Playoffs 3rd place
1981NAIA2–2.500Area Runner-Up
1982NAIA0–2.000Area Playoffs 4th place
NAIA Total31–25.56115 Appearances
1984NCAA D-II0–2.000Brookings Regional 5th place
1985NCAA D-II2–2.500Romeoville Regional 3rd place
1986NCAA D-II2–2.500Troy Regional 3rd place
1987NCAA D-I2–2.500Austin Regional 3rd place
1989NCAA D-I0–2.000Austin Regional 5th place
1996NCAA D-I1–2.333Austin Regional 3rd place
2007NCAA D-I2–2.500Oxford Regional Runner-Up
2008NCAA D-I0–2.00Houston Regional 4th place
2009NCAA D-I0–2.000Houston Regional 4th place
2012NCAA D-I2–2.500Houston Regional Runner-Up
2013NCAA D-11–2.333Baton Rouge Regional 3rd place
2014NCAA D-12–2.500Fort Worth regional Runner-Up
2016NCAA D-11-2.333Lafayette Regional 3rd Place
2017NCAA D-14-30.5711st Place Lubbock Regional,
Tallahassee Super Regional
NCAA Total18–29.38314 Appearances
Total49–54.47529 Appearances

Notable players

Many of Sam Houston State's baseball players earned various awards and honors, including 95 All-Conference players, 16 All-Americans, and 7 conference award winners. Film director Richard Linklater also played baseball at Sam Houston State.

All-Americans

The Bearkats have produced 16 All-Americans across three different divisions. Four of these players earned the honor in multiple years.
1t denotes 1st Team selection, 2t denotes 2nd Team selection, 3t denotes 3rd Team selection, and hm denotes Honorable Mention

Post-season awards

Sam Houston State has had 9 players earn end of the season awards, such as Pitcher of the Year, Player of the Year, and Newcomer of the Year. These awards were handed out by the Gulf Star Conference from 1985 through 1987 and by the Southland Conference from 1988 through the present.
Conference honors
In 2001 the Bearkats set a new tournament record for runs scored in a game with 22. Third baseman Douglas Moulder and right fielder Josh Harrison both contributed with 2 home runs and 7 R.B.I.s each, also tying each other for the tournament record. Harrison also stole 3 bases in the game. For Moulder, it was his 9th multi-homer game of the season< a school record.
Harrison and Moulder are also tied for the longest home run at Bearkats Stadium. In 1998 Harrison blasted a shot 437 ft. The following year, Moulder launched a ball the same distance in his second hit as a Bearkat.
Seven players have also been selected as the Southland Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player.
Source:

Players in Major League Baseball

As of the 2017 Major League Baseball season, the Sam Houston State University baseball team has had 11 former members go on to play Major League Baseball:
Player NameYears at SHSUYears in MLB
Ray Benge1922–19251925–1938
Ken Boswell1965-19651967–1977
Fred Beene1962–19641968–1975
Phil Hennigan1965-19651969–1973
Rick Matula1973–19751979–1981
Billy Smith1974–19771981-1981
Glenn Wilson1978–19801982–1993
Don Welchel1976–19781982–1983
Steve Sparks1986–19871995–2004
Jordan Tata2002–20032006–2007
Robert Manuel2005-20052009–2010
Ryan Tepera2006–20092015–present
Caleb Smith2011–20132017–present