Mark Johnson’s message came through loud and clear Monday morning: The Bearkats aren’t going on any kind of vacation this week, and they’re not happy just to be playing in an NCAA baseball regional.

The longtime coach who has guided Sam Houston State to back-to-back NCAA appearances for the first time in school history, Johnson said the Bearkats will head to Houston later this week with one common goal.

“Let’s go there to win it,” Johnson said after the Bearkats heard the news about the Rice regional and before they got busy and worked out at Don Sanders Stadium on Monday afternoon.

By winning four straight games at the Southland Conference Tournament, the Bearkats clinched a spot in the NCAA Tournament, which starts Friday at 16 regional sites around the country.

Sam Houston plays Rice, the No. 6 national seed, Friday at 6 p.m. Texas and St. John’s play at 2 p.m. in the Houston Regional’s other first-round game.

“I told the players that when you put Rice and Texas in the same regional, that’s who you read about and who you see all the time,” Johnson said of the Owls and Longhorns. “People have built them up so high that you may have a tendency to say, ‘Oh my goodness, let’s be honored to be there.’

“We’re not happy just to be there.”

SHSU slugger Seth Hammock, who played on Baylor teams that competed in the Rice regional the past two seasons, knows the Bearkats have a serious challenge in front of them.

Rice (42-13), the fifth-ranked team in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, is 23-5 at Recking Park this season. Texas, the Big 12 Tournament champs, comes into Houston on a roll, and St. John’s, at 41-14, is no slouch.

Still, Hammock believes in the Bearkats and says they are playing with loads of confidence.

“We feel pretty good about it,” Hammock said Monday. “We played Rice twice this year so we’re pretty familiar with what they’ve got. I also know some of the guys on the Texas team. We don’t have to travel on Wednesday. It’s an easy, quick trip so more fans will be able to come and that will be good. We go into this tournament with a lot of momentum.”

The Bearkats and Owls have played twice this season, with SHSU winning the first contest 13-12 in Huntsville and Rice taking the second meeting 3-2 in Houston.

SHSU banged out 14 hits and overcame six errors in the March 4 win at Don Sanders Stadium. Rice made the most of five hits in its one-run win on April 22 at Recking Park.

Johnson expects a completely different atmosphere Friday night when the two teams play the season’s rubber match.

“We didn’t see their number one pitcher; we saw their Tuesday and Wednesday pitchers,” Johnson said. “Pitching is what separates Rice from other teams, and when you’re the four seed, you probably see the number one seed’s best, and that’s OK.”

Sam Houston State closer Zac Baker said the Bearkats will be ready for Rice, Texas and St. John’s this weekend. Baker took his coach’s brief talk Monday to heart and believes SHSU can hang with anybody.

“Both games we played with Rice, we gave them a run for their money,” Baker said. “Coach Johnson does a great job preparing us for the tournament atmosphere, and the first thing he tells us is to never feel inferior to any team, whether it’s the Rice Owls or the University of Texas. We deserve to be here.”

Last spring, the Bearkats packed their bags and made a long journey to Mississippi, where they outlasted both Southern Miss and Troy, advancing all the way to the championship round of the Oxford Regional. Some of the players were hoping the NCAA would send the Southland Conference’s lone representative on a similar trip, perhaps to Miami, Baton Rouge, La., or Stillwater, Okla.

“We were hoping to make a little longer road trip, but we have split with Rice so we know we can beat them,” right fielder Todd Sebek said. “It would have been fun to go to Oklahoma State or LSU just for the experience. It was fun going to Ole Miss last year, and it’s always nice to experience something entirely new. But this is going to be a blast, having a lot of people there rooting for us, a lot of families and a lot of fans.

“We’re extremely confident right now, especially since all of the elements are coming together — pitching, defense and hitting,” Sebek added. “We respect Rice, but we’re not afraid of them. They bring a lot to the table, but so do we.”

Sebek expects to face sophomore right-hander Ryan Berry (7-4, 3.10 ERA) on Friday night. Berry has been the Owls’ most consistent starter this season. A second-team All-American and Collegiate Baseball’s National Freshman of the Year last spring, Berry mixes three pitches effectively. He started for the Owls in an early season game in 2007, going 3 2/3 innings and allowing three hits and three runs with no walks and four strikeouts.

“Berry’s a great pitcher, but we’ve faced him,” Sebek said. “He has improved, but so have we.”

Johnson said the Bearkats didn’t back down last season in Mississippi, and he doesn’t expect them to be nervous this week when they open regional play against a school that has made six College World Series appearances since 1997 and four since 2002. Rice won the national title in ’03, and the Owls were College World Series semifinalists in 2006 and ’07.

“I don’t think we’ll ever be intimidated,” Johnson said. “We have a motto: Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission. Nobody will have any edge on us.”

The Bearkats say they’ve got nothing to lose. They’re excited to be playing college baseball’s big dogs, and they want to prove they belong with the elite teams from Texas.

“It’s a fun time of year,” Hammock said. “We’re ready to go out and play and have some more fun.”





NCAA Houston Regional

Friday’s schedule

Reckling Park, Houston

St. John’s (41-14) vs. Texas (37-20), 2 p.m.

Sam Houston State (37-23) vs. Rice (42-13), 6 p.m.



Tickets: Order online at RiceOwls.com,

or through the Rice Athletic Ticket Office at Rice Stadium. All-session

passes are available for $55. Tickets for single games go on sale Thursday. Tickets can be purchased in person or over the phone by calling (713) 522-OWLS during normal business hours from Tuesday through Thursday.



What are Bearkat baseball fans saying about the Houston Regional?



Here are a few comments posted on the katfans.com Web site concerning the upcoming Houston Regional and the Bearkats’ first-round meeting with No. 6 national seed Rice.



All of us will be there!!! And bring all we can bring with us. We may have to lease a cargo van.

DBIRD



Houston regional is tough, but I like it.

1. SHSU players are not intimidated by Rice. They are a good team, but our guys will take the field KNOWING they can beat the Owls, because they've already done it this season.

2. Playing in H-town means Bearkat fans need to get their hand on some tickets and come out in force! Turn the Reck into Don Sanders South.

3. The Kats will put runs on the board against anyone they play, so pitching and defense are going to be the deciding factors. The few times we’ve been whacked this season came when we were kicking the ball around (13-6 Tx St L; 17-6 UTA L)

This team has the offensive firepower to make a Cinderella run to the super regional. Can you imagine ... Cinderella Bearkats led by coach MJ marching into Kyle Field to play the Aggies in a Super Regional with a trip to Omaha on the line. How sweet would that be?!?! I know it’s a wild dream, but we’re in the tournament, so the dream is alive.

KatMaster



This is a GREAT REGIONAL SELECTION FOR THE KATS TO LAND IN!

We can bring a good Kat Krowd to this game since it is in Houston and we know we can beat Rice. Rice also knows anytime they trade the glove leather with us they are in for a handful and will have all they can handle.

Mentally Rice cannot like this one bit at all. SHSU on the other hand knows we can rough up Rice and we can play with everything to gain and really nothing to lose.

Kats are gonna have a great shot in this tournament to beat Rice and I would love to get a crack at the Longhorns ANY FREAKING DAY!

I'm rounding up a posse and will be at this tournament IN FORCE!

Let's GO SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE! GO KATS!

Kats86