Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Soccer wraps up Spring season

Spring soccer has finished up. The team competed in the Texas A&M and Houston Baptist 7-A-Side Tournaments, The Challenge Presidents Day Invitational, hosted St. Edward's University, and held its first alumni game. Only freshmen and sophomores took the field for the Bearkats this spring. Our seniors do not compete with the team in the spring and Deanna Long was doing rehabilitation from knee surgery. The team progressed throughout the spring and showed improvement in the areas we have been focusing on in training.

I really enjoyed our alumni game. I got to meet quite a few players who had played here during the first few years of the program. It was also great to see the three senior classes that have graduated during my time here at Sam Houston State. We are already planning a bigger and better event for 2012!

Head Strength Coach Kyle Speer took over the training of our team in the weight room. Our young players have gained strength and played with more confidence during this time. On the field we have focused on attacking themes and working with our forwards with finishing around the penalty box. We were pleased to score 13 goals in our 3 games at the HBU tournament. The team was led in scoring by 2010 Southland Freshman of the Year, Tricia Mallory.

Eight new faces will join the up with the team on August 3, when the team reports for pre-season training. One of those new faces is Ashlyn Davis. She helped lead her high school, Cedar Park Vista Ridge, to the Texas State 4A Championship Game where the ended the season with a 2-1 loss. However, Ashlyn was named to the Soccer State Championship All-Tournament Team.

The team will open the 2011 season in Waco, TX on Friday, August 19. The team will face Big 12 team Baylor University on that date with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 PM.

-- Tom Brown
Head Women's Soccer Coach

Friday, April 15, 2011

NCAA Bowling Championships - Day 2

Today's play at the NCAA Bowling Championships will be a double elimination, bracket format.

Once again, today's matches can be view live online on the NCAA website: http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule

Match 1 SHSU vs. Nebraska
Baker match Best 4 of 7
Game 1 - Kats win 179-169
Game 2 - Nebraska wins 221-195
Game 3 - Nebraska wins 226-206
Game 4 - Nebraska wins 204-188
Game 5 - Nebraska wins 237-211

The seventh-seeded Bearkats fell in the opening match 4-1 to No. 2 Nebraska. The Kats took the opening game by 10-pins, but came up empty in the last four to fall to the losers bracket. SHSU will now face No. 6 Arkansas State in an elimination match.

Match 2 SHSU vs. Arkansas State
Game 1 - Arkansas State wins 183-165
Game 2 - Kats win 246-169 (7 straight strikes to finish)
Game 3 - ASU wins 244-176
Game 4 - ASU wins 255-192
Game 5 - Kats win 192-185
Game 6 - ASU wins 227-176



April 15, 2011 - Bracket Play
Round 1 (Matches 1-4) - 8:50 a.m.

 - Match 1 - #1 Fairleigh Dickinson vs #8 Kutztown
 - Match 2 - #4 Vanderbilt vs #5 Central Missouri
- Match 3 - #2 Nebraska vs #7 Sam Houston State
 - Match 4 - #3 Maryland-Eastern Shore vs #6 Arkansas State

Round 2 (Matches 5-8) - 10:20 a.m.
 - Match 5 - FDU vs. Vanderbilt
 - Match 6 - Nebraska vs Maryland-Eastern Shore
 - Match 7 - Kutztown vs. Central Missouri
 - Match 8 - Sam Houston State vs Arkansas State

Round 3 (Matches 9 & 10) - 2:40 p.m.
 - Match 9 - Loser of Match 6 vs Winner of Match 7
 - Match 10 - Loser of Match 5 vs Winner of Match 8

Round 4 (Matches 11 & 12) - 4:20 p.m.
 - Match 11 - Winner of Match 5 vs Winner of Match 9
 - Match 12 - Winner of Match 6 vs Winner of Match 10

April 16, 2011
Round 5 (Matches 13 & 14) - 9:40 a.m. (if necessary)

 - Match 13 - Winner of Match 11 vs Loser of Match 11
 - Match 14 - Winner of Match 12 vs Loser of Match 12

Round 6 (Championship Final) - 2:40 p.m.
 - Match 15 - Semifinals Winners

Thursday, April 14, 2011

NCAA Bowling Championships - Day 1

TAYLOR, Mich -- We are about set and ready to get the first day of the NCAA Bowling Championship in Taylor Michigan, which is a suburb of Detroit. Today's format is a round-robin competition where the Kats will bowl against the seven other schools to determine the seeding for bracket play on Friday.

Live Video is available on the NCAA website of today's matches http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule

We will be updating this page throughout the day.

The order of play for today's session was announced this morning:

Morning Session (8:50 a.m.to 1 p.m.)
Game 1 - Vanderbilt - Lanes 19-20
Game 2 - University of Maryland Eastern Shore- Lanes 7-8
Game 3 - Kutztown - Lanes 13-14
Game 4 - Arkansas State - Lanes 25-26

Afternoon Session (2:40 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.)
Game 1 - Central Missouri - Lanes 7-8
Game 2 - Fairleigh Dickinson - Lanes 27-28
Game 3 - Nebraska - Lanes 23-24V

Game 1 vs Vanderbilt (Won 958-946)
The Bearkats got their first trip to the NCAA Championship off to a great start, knocking off Vanderbilt 958-946. Dayna Galganski got the first turkey of the day for the Kats with strikes in the 6th, 7th and 8th frames. She made it four straight in the 9th. The Kats trailed most of the match, but rallied late. Shaina Woolbaugh hit on three straight strikes in the 9th and 10th and finished with a 181. Galganski lead the Kats with a 220, 22 pins above her average. Kimi Davidson bowled a 195, Aida Sanchez a 174 and Neishka Cardona finished with a 188.

Game 2 vs. Maryland Eastern Shore (Lost 1240-904)
The Bearkats dropped the second match of the day, falling to Maryland Eastern Shore 1240-904. Galganski led the way for the Kats with a 205, followed closely by Cardona's 204.

Game 3 vs Kutztown (Won 1013-971)
SHSU bounced back to take the third match of the day 1013-971 against Kutztown. The Kats opened strong with Lisa MacAllister opening with four consecutive strikes. Sanchez had a turkey in frames 2-4 to help the Kats to an early 100 pin lead. MacAllister then picked up a split in the 7th and Cardona followed with a split pick up in the 8th as the Kats held off Kutztown. MacAllister bowled a 237 to lead the Kats and Woolbaugh finished with a 205.

Game 4 vs. Arkansas State (Lost 1086-954)
The Bearkats finished the first session 2-2 with a loss to Arkansas State. Galganski led the Kats with a 211 and Cardona closed strong with four strikes in he last six rolls to finish with a 210.

Game 5 vs. Central Missouri (Lost 989-964)
The Kats fell in a hole early, and despite a furious late rally, fell in the fifth match of the day to Central Missouri. SHSU dominated the 10th frame, with Davidson, Sanchez and Galganski rolled a turkey in the 10th frame, with Galganski finishing with four straight. Sanchez had the high score for the Kats with a 223.

Game 6 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson (Lost 1100-900)
The Bearkats had a strong start in the first three frames against Fairleigh Dickinson, but four open frames in the fourth and fifth cost the Kats in the 200-pin loss. Davidson finished with a turkey in the 10th to bowl a 195. Sanchez was the top Kat bowler with a 225 after opening with three straight strikes.

Game 7 vs. Nebraska (Lost 972-939)
The Bearkats fell in the final game of the day, 972-939 to Nebraska to close the day at 2-5 in the preliminary qualifying round. Dayna Galganski and Kimi Davidson led the way for the Kats with a 211 (Galganski) and 209 (Davidson) with Galganski closing with five strikes in her last six rolls.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Baseball numbers down in 2011

When the college baseball season started, there was a lot of talk about the new bats. They are supposed to play more like wood bats and as a result the gaudy offensive numbers were supposed to come down. I talked to a lot of people before the season about it and most agreed.

However, a few said they wanted to see how the numbers played out before making a decision, and said they didn’t think it was going to be a huge difference. Well the NCAA has released its first half numbers, and I think it is very telling about the change in offensive production.

Data from the NCAA statistics staff reveal that in Division I games through April 3 (essentially the midpoint of the season), scoring is down by more than a run per game per team compared with the same time last season (from 6.98 per team in 2010 to 5.63 in 2011), and home runs have dropped from .85 a game per team in 2010 to .47 this year.

Batting average has also declined sharply, from .301 per team at midseason last year to .279 so far in 2011. Conversely, earned-run average has improved, from 5.83 in 2010 to 4.62 this year. In addition, more shutouts have been thrown this year (444) compared with this time last season (277).

I wanted to do the same for the Bearkats this season and see how their numbers stack up against the rest of the country.

The trends for the Kats are similar in some areas. Home runs this year are down for SHSU as well. Last season, the Kats averaged .74 homers per game and this year, they are hitting them at a .38 per game clip. Runs are also down for the Bearkats, although, not by nearly the same margin. In 2010, the Kats averaged 5.94 runs per game. This season they are averaging 5.61 per game.

The batting average is one area, the Kats have not seen a decline. Last year they had a team average of .302 and this year, it is down just a point at .301.

The pitching numbers for the Kats a skewed a bit, because the team overall was down last year, but there is still a huge disparity between the two seasons. Last year, the Bearkats has a staff ERA of 6.38. It is down more than three runs this year at 3.22. Also, the opponents’ batting average is down from .313 last year to .244 through 31 games this season.

The new bat standards that went into effect this season feature a stricter “Ball-Bat Coefficient of Restitution” standard (BBCOR) that reduces a batted ball’s exit speed.

The new BBCOR formula provides a better measure of a bat’s performance and allows the Baseball Rules Committee and bat-testing laboratories to better predict field performance based on lab tests. The goal is for non-wood bats that meet this new standard to perform similarly to wood bats.

The NCAA Baseball Research Panel, a group charged with maintaining the protocol for testing bats in the college game, recommended the new standards after reviewing Division I statistics from previous years that revealed sharp increases in offensive performance, particularly in home runs and runs scored, that was attributable mostly to the kind of bats in use at the time.

In 2007, the per-game average of home runs hit was .68 per team. That increased to .84 in 2008 and to .96 in 2009. It was .94 last year.

Runs scored per game experienced a similar trajectory. The 6.1 average per team in 2007 ballooned to 6.57 in 2008, 6.88 in 2009 and 6.98 in 2010.

“These new bat standards have brought the game back to its original style of play,” said Tim Weiser, deputy commissioner at the Big 12 Conference and chair of the Division I Baseball Committee. “It has put a premium back on strategy, pitching and defense, and not on the No. 9 hitter being able to hit the ball 400 feet just like the No. 4 hitter can. That’s what a lot of the positive feedback I’m hearing is centered on.”

-- Jason Barfield

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Spring volleyball going well

I feel that Sam Houston volleyball is progressing very well as the spring moves along. We came together quite well in our tournament we had a couple of weekends ago, which I feel boosted our confidence. Not only did it strengthen us as a team, but it also showed us the areas in which we need to improve. I really appreciate all the feedback we get from the coaches to help us see what areas we need to focus on and get better at.

Team bonding has been a great experience. I like all the different activities we are doing because they do help us become closer to one another on a personal level and they give each and every one of us a different look at one another. My team bonding activity was a little different from the ones we have had in the past because I wanted to incorporate a little competition into mine, but in a fun way. That’s why I thought that playing knock-out at the halftime of one of the basketball games would be a fun experience! Of course, I won on my side…(I had to, it was my team bonding), and Carli won on her side. But overall it was fun and everyone enjoyed it!

Also, spring is about competition, so I figured it would help to do something like when we have Wild Wednesday practices for points in the spring. Although we have only had a couple, I think those days are fun and helps put a little more competitiveness in us, which is beneficial because you want that type of person on your team in order to be successful on the court. Overall I think we are becoming a better team in all areas and I believe by the end of spring we will become a very well rounded team that will be hard to defeat!!!

-- Kaylee Hawkins, #12, SO, Utility