Unique offensive philosophy drives Sam Houston State to super regional against FSU

Wayne McGahee III
Tallahassee Democrat

There's bunting, and then there's Sam Houston State bunting.

The Bearkats were fourth in the country this year with 68 sacrifice bunts, but it's not really what you think.

“They have their own offensive system that they run very well,” McNeese State coach Justin Hill said.

“They don’t sac bunt, but they bunt for hits with men on base. They run and hit. They try to make you uncomfortable and they do a good job of it."

They will take that philosophy into the super regional round this weekend against Florida State with a berth in the College World Series on the line.

Matt Deggs developed his philosophy at Texas A&M as an assistant coach, and perfected it at Louisiana-Lafayette before bringing it to SHSU when he became head coach in 2014.

“They’re so good at it and so disciplined at it,” Nicholls State head coach Seth Thibodeaux said.

“(Matt Deggs) teaches the short game very well, and they’ll do it at any time. It’s not just for a sac it’s for hitting. That’s why their batting average is so high up there. That’s why they can put some pressure on and make plays.”

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It's not just how well the Bearkats lay down the bunts that make them so effective. It's that you never know when it's coming.

“They will bunt at awkward times,” Stephen F. Austin coach Johnny Cardenas said.

“Two strikes. Bases loaded. They will bunt when you least expect it. They have a lot of speed.”

During one of the games the Jacks played against SHSU earlier this season, the Bearkats laid down a bunt with two outs, two strikes and a runner on third.

Of course it worked.

“You can’t coach against something like that,” Cardenas said.

“You’ve just got to hope that they don’t execute when they do that. You can’t take an hour and a half of practice and work on two-out, two-strike bunting. You can’t do it.”

What makes the bunting even more effective is that they're excellent on the base paths. They're 10th in the country with 102 stolen bases and were only caught stealing 36 times.

Lead-off hitter Bryce Johnson is fourth in the country with 33 stolen bases this season on 40 attempts.

“They can do some damage on offense,” Thibodeaux said.

“They can run. They run the bases extremely well. They play short the game. They pressure you. They stick to their plan and never, ever sway away from it.”

The Bearkats success this season at the plate has lead to a number of big-time wins for the program.

They won three games against regional host Houston, two against No. 5 national seed Texas Tech - to win them the Lubbock regional - two against Rice, two against Arizona, one against Dallas Baptist, and one against Texas A&M, who will also be playing in a super regional this weekend.

That success against some of the top baseball teams in the country has SHSU playing with a lot of confidence heading into the FSU match-up starting on Saturday at noon.

“They beat a lot of Top-15 teams in the midweek games,” Thibodeaux said.

“It’s going to be a good challenge, but those guys are going to be coming over there thinking they can win it.”