By Cody Stark
There were runs, runs and more runs, and this time around, it was the Bearkats doing most of the hitting.
Sam Houston State erupted for 17 hits and got a solid pitching performance from senior Jacob Howard to blast Lamar 12-5 Friday afternoon in game two of a Southland Conference series at Don Sanders Stadium.
The Bearkats broke open a close game with five runs in the third inning to go up 7-1. Jon Reed ripped an RBI triple and scored on a single by Tyler Knight. After Mark Wyatt hit into a fielder’s choice, Seth Hammock singled and Ryan Mooney blasted a ground-rule double into the right-field corner for another run.
Adam DeLaGarza followed with a two-run single to right and Sam Houston State never looked back.
It was the complete opposite of the series opener Thursday when the Bearkats (10-7 in SLC, 19-13 overall) fell behind six runs in the first inning and never caught up to the Cardinals (10-7, 23-12) in a 13-6 setback.
“They got a lead right away, but we came right back,” SHSU head coach Mark Johnson said. “I thought we came out ready. We only had two strikeouts today and we had 11 yesterday. That was the difference in the outcome of the ballgame. We did some good things with two strikes and that was something we talked about before the game.”
Lamar did strike first Friday and it looked like Howard might be in for rough outing.
The Cardinals got back-to-back singles through the infield from Tyler Link and Brian Taylor to lead off the first. Howard then got the next hitter to fly out, but gave up an RBI double down the left-field line to Chris Dunkin.
Ryan Saldivar walked to load the bases, then Howard started to settle in. He struck out Jeremiah Sammy and coaxed Wade Mathis to fly out to center to get out of the jam.
Howard shut the Cardinals down after that. He gave up a single in the second and third innings, but set Lamar down in order in the fourth and fifth.
“In the first inning I really didn’t panic at all,” said Howard, who improved to 3-2. “They hit some good pitches. The balls were low and they just squeaked those hits through. I did leave a changeup up and (Dunkin) hit that one, but that was it. Overall, the defense really helped me out and that was huge.”
The Bearkats tacked on two more runs in the fourth to go up 9-1.
Nick Zaleski hit a one-out single and advanced to third when Lamar pitcher Matison Smith’s pickoff attempt at first missed the mark and ricochetted off the fence. Zaleski scored on a wild pitch, and Wyatt later pounded an RBI double into the right-center field gap.
Reed led the Kats at the plate, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Zaleski also went 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Knight was 3-for-5 with two RBIs.
Sam Houston lit up Smith, who was 5-1 coming into the contest. He only lasted 3 2/3 innings, giving up 14 hits and nine earned runs.
“We came out today with a chip on our shoulder,” said Reed, who has been battling a shoulder injury. “After a bad outing yesterday, we wanted to come out and get off to a better start. We have been playing from behind a lot this season and to come out and get an early lead was a huge plus for us today.”
The Bearkats also got a huge boost out of the bullpen from Ryan Tepera and Will Skelton.
Howard gave up a two-run homer to Anthony Moore to cut the lead to 9-3 in the sixth and loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh. But Tepera came in and struck out Dunkin and Saldivar then got Sammy to fly out to left.
The Cardinals started to get to Tepera in the eighth when Taylor made it 9-5 with a one-out, two-run single to left. This time, Skelton came in and got a couple of pop outs to end the threat.
Sam Houston added three insurance runs in the bottom of the frame thanks to a two-run single by Reed and Skelton retired the side in the ninth with two strikeouts to seal it.
“Tepera came in with the bases loaded, and even thought it didn’t seem like a big deal, if they would have gotten a grand slam it would have been a huge deal. But he got us out of it,” Johnson said. “Then Will comes in with runners at first and second and leaves them stranded, too. I thought both of our bullpen guys came through in those situations big time.”
Sam Houston State will try to secure the series in the finale today at 1 p.m. The Bearkats will send Brent Powers (0-0, 5.23 ERA) to the mound, while the Cardinals will probably throw Ricky Testa (3-2, 4.73).
