The Sam Houston University baseball team split their home conference opener with the Northwestern State University Demons over the weekend.
Game one: Wild walk-off
The Bearkats stole the first game of the series 3-2 after a walk-off hit that would go off the pitcher’s leg and score the final two runs.
Freshman second baseman Easton Loyd was responsible for the walk-off hit. Loyd hit the ball up the middle of the infield, which went off the pitcher and towards the second baseman. This caused the infield to scramble trying to get the ball, which allowed freshman left fielder Clayton Chadwick and junior right fielder Bryce Holmes to score the game-tying and game-winning run.
Sam Houston was able to stay close in the game thanks due to junior starting pitcher Tyler Davis pitching, having a quality start with eight innings of two-run baseball while allowing seven hits.
Game two and three: Low scoring affairs
Sam Houston dropped both games of the Saturday doubleheader with scores of 3-1 and 3-2.
In-game one of the doubleheaders, the Bearkats took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after junior left fielder Jack Rogers brought in a run after a ground out to second base. The Demons responded right away with a home run in the top of the second inning to tie the game.
They would go one to score the rest of their runs in the top of the seventh inning. Because this was game one of the doubleheaders, the teams only played seven innings.
The second game was eerily similar to game one in scoring. The Demons jumped to a 3-0 lead after scoring two runs in the fifth inning and one run in the sixth inning.
The Bearkats would try and fight their way back by scoring two runs between the sixth and seventh inning.
Sam Houston looked to have a chance with two runners on base and one out in the eighth inning but was unable to capitalize on the opportunity after a strikeout from Rogers and ground out to end the inning from senior catcher Gavin Johnson.
Game four: Cowser leads the way
In the series finale, the Bearkats were able to come away with a 6-3 victory.
Sophomore center fielder Colton Cowser stole the show in the game with two home runs after being hitless in the series prior to this match.
Cowser opened up the scoring with a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning to get the Bearkats an early lead. They would not trail a single inning in this game.
The team had nine total hits on the day, with three players each having two hits apiece in Cowser, Rogers and junior designated hitter Trent Touchet.
The Bearkats return to Don Sanders Stadium this weekend for their series against the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Islanders starting March 26.
