The SHSU baseball team held the C.W. Lightening Invitational Tournament this weekend despite the freezing rain and wind, which forced the suspension of a Friday game and the cancellation of both Saturday games.
SHSU (4-2) was only able to play two games, yet came away with one win and one loss in the first tournament ever held at the new baseball complex.
The Bearkats took on the Dallas Baptist Patriots (4-2) to begin the tournament on Thursday night. After a hard fought twelve innings, SHSU came up short, losing to the Patriots 5-4.
SHSU starting pitcher junior Timothy Gray pitched six solid innings, allowing just three runs while striking out seven batters.
In the top of the seventh inning, junior Jesse Marshall took over the mound for the Bearkats and pitched to just five batters, allowing two hits and one run. Senior Zach Addickson replaced Marshall on the mound and finished out the inning with a groundout by Patriots third baseman Cody Montgomery.
The Bearkats’ pitcher and product of Westfield H.S. Steven Price took over in the 10th inning and took the loss after allowing just one run and striking out four Patriot batters.
Throughout the game, the radar guns bristled in the stands behind home plate in anticipation of the excellent pitching the Bearkats performed during their time on the mound.
Yet the Bearkat offense struggled to produce and came up with just five hits and one run in the first six innings.
First baseman Karl Krailo led off the second inning with a single and later scored the first run for SHSU off catcher Stephen Spaugh’s sacrifice fly to left field. The Bearkats scored again in the seventh inning when shortstop Gregory O’Neill hit a homerun off Patriots pitcher Randall Taylor.
O’Neill went 3 for 3 with one RBI and one homerun while third baseman Daniel Cox went 1 for 4 with another RBI, which he earned in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game.
The Bearkats game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Friday night reached the sixth inning before being suspended because of rain.
The Bearkats were tied 1-1 with the Islanders (4-6) when the game was called off.
Freshman pitcher Jacob Howard pitched a little over five innings and struck out eight batters while allowing just one run. Junior Luke Prihoda took the mound in the top of the sixth and walked one batter while striking out another.
In the bottom of the sixth, O’Neill singled to left field and third baseman Josh Warren flied out to right field before the game was called.
The players took the field again at 2 p.m. Sunday to finish the game with Prihoda on the mound for the Bearkats.
SHSU defeated TAMUCC 5-2 in the 12th inning when second baseman Aaron Cook singled to bring in the winning run.
The Bearkats’ next game will be today at 4 p.m. in Houston against Rice University.
The Owls currently hold a 6-2 record.