The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named for Baseball Hall of Famer and Texas native Nolan Ryan, who was nicknamed "The Ryan Express." Ryan, along with son Reid Ryan and Don Sanders make up the team's ownership group, Ryan Sanders Baseball.
Sam Houston State University is a public research university in Huntsville, Texas. Founded in 1879, it is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and the first in Texas. The school is named for Sam Houston, who made his home in the city and is buried there.
UFCU Disch–Falk Field is the baseball stadium of the University of Texas at Austin. It has been home to Texas Longhorns baseball since it opened on February 17, 1975, replacing Clark Field as the home of the Longhorns.
Whataburger Field is a minor league baseball stadium located in Corpus Christi, Texas, United States. It is home to the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. It also serves as a secondary home to the Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Islanders college baseball team in addition to their own on-campus Chapman Field.
Eck Stadium is a baseball stadium in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is located on the south side of 21st Street between Hillside and Oliver on the campus of Wichita State University in northeast Wichita.
Elliott T. Bowers Stadium is a 14,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Huntsville, Texas. The stadium has been home to the Sam Houston State University Sam Houston Bearkats football team since 1986. Previously, the team played their homes games at Pritchett Field, which currently plays host to the University's women soccer team. The Bearkats are members of Conference USA (CUSA).
Texas is home of several national sports league franchises among other professional sports, being the second most populated U.S. state. Since the state is located in the South Central United States, most teams are part of the Central / South or West league divisions, with the notable exception of the NFL Dallas Cowboys, which is an NFC East franchise.
The Sam Houston Bearkats are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Sam Houston State University, located in Huntsville, Texas. Sam Houston's colors are orange and white. Sam Houston sports teams participate in NCAA Division I in Conference USA (CUSA), having joined that conference on July 1, 2023 after spending 34 years in the Southland Conference and two years in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). SHSU's primary rival is Stephen F. Austin (SFA) and tensions between the two schools can run high before major sporting events that pit one against the other.
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 currently a member of Conference USA, an athletic conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The team plays its home games at Don Sanders Stadium.
The Battle of the Piney Woods is a college football rivalry between Sam Houston State University (SHSU) located in Huntsville, Texas and Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) located in Nacogdoches, Texas.
Sammy Bearkat is the mascot of Sam Houston State University (SHSU), located in Huntsville, Texas. He is a popular attraction at many athletic events such as football, basketball, and volleyball. He also appears for various campus and community functions. Sammy's two-minute routine earned him a national championship of the mascots division at the 2005 United Spirit Association Collegiate National Championship. Sammy was also named the 2010 and 2011 National Cheerleading Association (NCA) Mascot National Champion. In the 2012 nationals season, Sammy competed with the SHSU Co-Ed Cheer Team at the National Cheerleading Association (NCA) collegiate cheer competition. Together they won first place and earned the title of NCA Division I Cheer National Collegiate Champions. In 2013 Sammy also competed with the SHSU Co-Ed Cheer Team who won their second straight national championship title for NCA. Sammy returned to the Band Shell in Daytona Beach to compete alongside the SHSU All-Girl cheer team who won the NCA All-Girl Division I National Championship Title in 2014. In 2015 Sammy was able to wrap his paws around another NCA Division I title as he competed alongside the Co-Ed Cheer Team. In 2016, Sammy competed alongside the SHSU Division I Co-Ed Cheer Team to win another 1st place NCA National Championship. Sammy was also chosen as the 2016 NCA Mascot National Champion after showcasing a great routine in Daytona Beach, Florida. Sammy has now brought home 1st place in various different flavors in 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2016, 2017, 2018.
The Sam Houston Bearkats men's basketball team, represents Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, United States. The Bearkats were one of four programs, all from Texas, that left the Southland Conference on July 1, 2021 to join the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Sam Houston had previously been a member of the Southland Conference since the 1987–88 season. The Bearkats have played home games at Johnson Coliseum, a 6,110 seat indoor arena, since 1976, when it was then called University Coliseum. On July 1, 2023 the Bearkats joined Conference USA.
The 2013 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bearkats were led by fourth-year head coach Willie Fritz and played their home games at Bowers Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference.
The Bearkat Marching Band, also known as The Famous Bearkat Band or the BMB, is the marching band at Sam Houston State University. The band was founded in 1910 under the direction of C.W. Feuge, and is currently directed by Brian Gibbs. The band appears at Sam Houston football and basketball home games, as well as at pep rallies, the annual Battle of the Piney Woods in Houston, and occasionally at in-state away games.
The Sam Houston Bearkats softball team represents Sam Houston State University in NCAA Division I college softball. The team participates in Conference USA. The Bearkats are currently led by head coach Garrett Valis. The team plays its home games at the Bearkat Softball Complex located on the university's campus.
Mark Johnson is a Hall of Fame College Baseball Coach who coached the Texas A&M Aggies baseball team from 1985 to 2005 and Sam Houston State from 2007 to 2011. Johnson led the Aggies to the NCAA playoffs 13 times, College World Series appearances in 1993 and 1999, won the Big 12 Conference regular-season crown in 1998 and 1999, won the Southwest Conference championship three times. Johnson retired with 1,043 career wins.
The 2014 Sam Houston State Bearkats baseball team represented Sam Houston State University in the 2014 intercollegiate baseball season. Sam Houston State competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the Southland Conference. The Bearkats play home games at Don Sanders Stadium on the university's campus in Huntsville, Texas. Third year head coach David Pierce leads the Bearkats.
The 2015 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bearkats were led by second-year head coach K. C. Keeler and played their home games at Bowers Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 11–4 overall and 7–2 in Southland play to finish in a tie for second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Southern Utah, McNeese State, and Colgate to advance to the Semifinals, where they lost to Jacksonville State. The 2015 season marked the Bearkats' 100th season of football.
The 2016–17 Sam Houston State Bearkats men's basketball team represented Sam Houston State University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bearkats, led by seventh-year head coach Jason Hooten, played their home games at the Bernard Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Texas as members of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 21–13, 10–8 in Southland play to finish in a tie for fifth place. They defeated Central Arkansas and Houston Baptist to advance to the semifinals of the Southland tournament where they lost to New Orleans. Despite having 21 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.
The 2021 Sam Houston State Bearkats baseball team represented Sam Houston State University during the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Bearkats played their home games at Don Sanders Stadium and were led by second–year head coach Jay Sirianni. They were members of the Southland Conference. This was Sam Houston State's final year in the Southland as they will be moving to the Western Athletic Conference for the 2022 season.
