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Sam Houston State baseballs habit of upsetting top ranked teams came to an end after losing to No. 24 Texas A&M 4-1 Tuesday night in College Station.
The Bearkats were scoreless into the fourth inning until a solo home run from Luke Plucheck, but the Aggies capitalized early off mistakes from SHSU starting pitcher Tyler Eppler.
Aggie catcher Troy Stein headed TAMUs offense with three hits and four RBIs, including a three-run home run. In the bottom of the first, Stein doubled into left field to drive in third baseman Blake Allemand from first base. Stein would connect again off a mistake pitch from Eppler for a three run homer in the bottom of the third.
Head Coach David Pierce said that the game came down to Epplers performance in the third inning.
Really the game came down to just one pitch, Pierce said to GoBearkats.com. Eppler missed his pitch and the homerun was the difference in the game.
SHSU led off most of their innings with a base hit but were unable to piece together a string of hits to drive in runs. Overall, the Bearkats left seven runners stranded on base combined with a .161 batting average against the Aggies.
Logan Boyd came in to relieve Eppler in the seventh inning to toss two quick innings. He faced seven batters and recorded two strikeouts.
SHSU will travel to Beaumont to face conference opponent Lamar University for a three game series starting Friday. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
The Bearkats will return to Huntsville Tuesday for another chance at the top ranked Aggies at Don Sanders with the first pitch at 6:30 p.m.