The Sam Houston State University Bearkats softball team played its first two home games of the season as they kicked off the Bearkat Softball Classic presented by Holiday Inn Express and University Hotel. The Kats lost both of their matchups Friday night: Seton Hall Pirates and Wichita State WuShocks.
In their first matchup against Seton Hall, the team got off to a good start. After the first two innings of the game, the squad scored four runs to take an early lead. Three of those runs came in the first inning of play with a major contribution from sophomore catcher Megan Crosby who had a two RBI triple.
Throughout the first three innings, the Bearkats scored three runs in the first inning, one run in the second and two in the thirdm all while not giving up a single run to the Pirates.
By the time the fifth inning stretch came, SHSU led the game 6-2. Freshman outfielder Kayte Martinez made her presence felt through five and a half innings as up to this point she was 2 for 3 with an RBI single as well as crossing the plate herself to count for two of the Kats’ six runs.
By the end of it all, however, the Bearkats gave up 10 runs, seven of those coming in the bottom of the sixth inning as they fell to the Pirates by a final score of 10-6. SHSU finished the first game with six runs on nine hits and two errors on the final stat line. The Bearkats also left eight runners on base throughout the game.
Sam Houston State University Head Coach Bob Brock talked about the end of the game where the team seemed to just fall apart when they needed it most.
“We just got into a little bit of a pitching situation,” Brock said. “But, we did show some signs of the team that I think we are going to be. I am still fishing around for a line-up and still doing some things like that. When it gets down to it, we really want to concentrate on that conference. I saw a lot of good signs. We just couldn’t hold on to it.”
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Bearkats took on Wichita State. The Shockers also faced the No. 4 ranked Washington Huskies but lost by the run rule in the fifth inning.
Unlike the first game, however, the Shockers did a complete 180 degree flip defensively. Through the first four innings of the second game, the Bearkats were only able to accumulate one hit.
SHSU headed to the bottom of the seventh inning down 3-0 and needed a comeback. However, they were only able to get one person on base via a walk.
“Wichita State is known for their pretty good softball team and I thought they played pretty well,” Brock said. “Uncharacteristically, we do not make a lot of errors. We seem to get in trouble and it is a perfect example- if you get an error, you give up a run. It is just about as simple as that.”
The Bearkats play next against Northern Colorado starting a double header at 4:45 p.m. Saturday at Bearkat Softball Complex in the continuation of the Bearkat Softball Classic.
