2017 NCAA Super Regional Preview: Sam Houston State-Florida State

SAM HOUSTON STATE-FLORIDA STATE

Hosted by Florida State • Dick Howser Stadium • Tallahassee, FL
Follow the action on Twitter: @FSUBaseball | @BearkatsBSB

Sam Houston State (44-21) at Florida State (43-21)

Saturday
noon (ESPN2)
Sunday
noon (ESPN or ESPN2)
Monday
TBA

Sam Houston State (Photo courtesy of John Weast Photography)

Sam Houston State

Coach: Matt Deggs
Postseason History: First super regional appearance. Seeking first trip to Omaha.
Postseason Route: No. 3 seed in Lubbock Regional. Went 4-1, defeating No. 1 seed Texas Tech 4-3 in regional final.

Scouting Report
(anonymous coach breaks down the Bearkats)

“What’s unique about them is they don’t have a prototypical lineup. These guys have no four-hole hitter. They’re all like Dave Van Horn’s Nebraska teams. They’re all identical 1 through 9; they can all run, they can all bunt, they just do a lot of things top to bottom. You think they’re not going to do something, and then the catcher’s laying down a drag bunt. It’s hard to play them. They’re not overpowering, and they can pitch and catch it, but it’s tough to give a scouting report on them because they’re unique. They get deep into counts and offensively that’s why they were able to get out of the regional.

“(Johnson) can really, really run. He’s a good hitter. I think Florida State has one or two lefthanded arms in their rotation, which will hurt him because he’s not very good righthanded. Lefthanded, he understands who he is. He’ll hit the double, turn triple, but he just stays inside the ball and uses the whole field. He’s every bit of a 70-80 runner. He’s got that confidence going right now. He’s one of the better players in the country and he’s got that swagger going. He’s a fun kid to watch.

“Their Friday starter (Heath Donica), he’s a three-pitch guy; he can really command the zone. He’s not overpowering, but he can really pitch.

“The bullpen has all strike-throwers and they compete really well. There’s a lot of young kids on the back end, but they’re just really solid.

“The one thing that really stood out to me is they’re confident in a good way. They all think they’re really, really good baseball players and honestly most of them are playing above their head, which is just a huge credit to that staff. They won’t be intimidated going into that environment, although Florida State is a completely different animal than anywhere those kids have ever been. It’s a place that suffocates you pretty quick.”

Pos.	Name	Bats	Yr.	Avg.	OBP	SLG	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB
C	Robie Rojas	R	Sr.	.347	.413	.508	7	45	21	30	7
1B	Riley McKnight	R	So.	.239	.349	.321	1	22	20	37	11
2B	Lance Miles	S	Sr.	.283	.362	.358	1	33	22	27	8
3B	Taylor Beene	R	Sr.	.301	.427	.372	2	39	25	32	7
SS	Andrew Fregia	R	So.	.310	.365	.461	7	47	19	57	14
OF	Clayton Harp	L	So.	.297	.383	.447	5	50	30	59	6
OF	Bryce Johnson	S	Jr.	.350	.456	.437	0	43	34	38	33
OF	Hunter Hearn	R	So.	.329	.400	.454	2	40	19	39	3
DH	Blake Chisolm	L	Jr.	.343	.468	.554	4	35	23	52	1
Pos.	Name	Throws	Yr.	W	L	SV	ERA	IP	BB	SO	AVG
SP	Heath Donica	R	Sr.	9	2	0	1.91	108.1	29	106	.208
SP	Hayden Wesneski	R	Fr.	10	2	0	3.80	83	21	46	.263
SP	Seth Ballew	L	Jr.	6	3	0	3.96	72.2	33	58	.272
RP	Kyle Backhus	L	Fr.	4	4	2	4.18	56	27	61	.256

Florida State

Coach: Mike Martin
Postseason History: 16th super regional appearance (third straight). Seeking 23rd trip to Omaha.
Postseason Route: No. 1 seed in Tallahassee Regional. Lost opening game to Tennessee Tech. Rallied to win four straight, including 6-0 win against No. 3 seed Auburn in regional final.

Scouting Report
(anonymous coach breaks down the Seminoles)

Quincy Nieporte (Photo by Carl Kline)

“I think (Jackson) Lueck is really good. I don’t know how (Taylor Walls) is hitting .260. I think that kid’s awesome. And when you get to the bottom of the order and (J.C.) Flowers is at the bottom . . . that’s a tough out. (Coach) Mike (Martin) always has those guys who don’t chase, which means you’ve got to beat them in the zone. Then you’ve got (Cal) Raleigh, (Quincy) Nieporte, (Drew) Mendoza . . . make a mistake to any one of those guy and they can change the scoreboard.”

“As a general rule, you have to beat them because they’re going to have good at-bats, they’re going to throw strikes, they’re going to execute everything they’re told to; you have to beat them in the strike zone; they’re not going to give you four runs; they’re never going to go ‘walk, walk, error, hit,’ and give you four runs.

“Forty years of 40 wins—that’s impossible! Even if you played 80 games a year, that’s impossible. Some teams you think, ‘That’s an Omaha team.’ But I think they have a chance to win a national championship.

“I’m rooting for Mike to get one. Pretty much anybody who’s not in a super regional should root for them.”

Pos.	Name	Bats	Yr.	Avg.	OBP	SLG	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB
C	Cal Raleigh	S	So.	.223	.330	.388	8	34	37	36	1
1B	Drew Mendoza	L	Fr.	.271	.405	.519	8	30	27	42	3
2B	Matt Henderson	S	Sr.	.267	.445	.304	0	19	43	40	8
3B	Dylan Busby	R	Jr.	.317	.401	.608	14	60	22	56	9
SS	Taylor Walls	S	Jr.	.262	.401	.393	6	43	57	43	10
OF	Jackson Lueck	L	So.	.312	.397	.516	9	49	23	47	6
OF	J.C. Flowers	R	Fr.	.241	.362	.310	2	32	29	54	7
OF	Steven Wells	R	Jr.	.250	.357	.361	1	5	5	10	0
DH	Quincy Nieporte	R	Sr.	.301	.367	.494	9	73	21	34	0
Pos.	Name	Throws	Yr.	W	L	SV	ERA	IP	BB	SO	AVG
SP	Tyler Holton	L	So.	10	2	0	2.22	105.1	25	132	.166
SP	Drew Parrish	L	Fr.	5	3	0	4.67	81	25	80	.240
SP	Cole Sands	R	So.	6	3	0	5.24	79	29	68	.268
RP	Drew Carlton	R	Jr.	4	4	6	2.03	57.2	13	53	.268