By Cody Stark
The Bearkats finally got that elusive sweep and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Sam Houston State pounded four Southeastern Louisiana pitchers for 17 hits and junior Morgan Mikulin tossed a four-hitter to guide the Kats to a 10-2 victory in six innings Saturday at the Bearkat Softball Complex.
Junior Amy Brown went 3-for-3 with two RBIs, sophomore Hailey Wiginton went 3-for-4 and sophomores Whitney Wilson and Alex Survant and senior Kendra Spivey each collected two hits to keep Sam Houston State in the running for a berth in the Southland Conference Tournament.
The Bearkats (11-10 in SLC play, 20-19 overall) entered the three-game series in seventh place, needing a sweep to keep pace with Stephen F. Austin for the sixth and final postseason spot. The sixth-place Ladyjacks (12-9, 23-21) swept Central Arkansas this weekend, but Sam Houston State is still in striking distance, a game back with three conference series left.
“We knew this was a big game, and every game this series was big, but we had to get this sweep,” said Mikulin, who helped her own cause in the circle with a pair of sacrifice flies. “In warmup and batting practice we were really focusing on coming out here with energy and the will to win.”
The Bearkats did that and recorded their first SLC series sweep of the season, even though Southeastern Louisiana took a 1-0 lead in the first on a solo home run by third baseman Heather Sherrill.
After that, it was all Sam Houston.
The Bearkats tied the game in the bottom of the first when Mikulin hit a deep fly ball to left field to bring in Wiginton, who led off with a double.
Wilson began the second inning with a single and scored on a timely hit-and-run call when senior Sarah Parich laced a double down the left-field line. Survant made it 3-1 with an RBI single into the left-field corner.
After tacking on another run in the fourth thanks to Brown’s first RBI single of the game, the Bearkats roughed up Lions reliever Katelyn Thomason in the fifth.
Wilson doubled again to start the frame and scored on a one-out single by pinch hitter Calli Wood. Survant and Spivey hit back-to-back singles to load the bases. Wiginton and Brown each singled in a run and Mikulin ripped another sacrifice fly to push the lead to 8-2.
“We have been doing a lot of work trying to see the ball better and making adjustments at the plate,” Brown said. “I think we have done a good job with that. We just know that every game now is important and we have that drive behind us.”
The Bearkats have struggled this season producing runs, but they have turned things around recently.
It started with a spirit-lifting doubleheader at Prairie View A&M; on Tuesday. Sam Houston State blasted 39 hits and scored 29 runs in a pair of five-inning, run-rule victories over the Panthers.
The Kats carried it over to the weekend and drilled 41 hits in three games to outscore the Lions 20-6.
“All year long we have suffered from our offense to a certain degree and when we did have our offense we couldn’t string it together,” SHSU head coach Bob Brock said. “The things that we did this week really, really worked. We scrimmaged and did some other things and it paid off. We had timely hits, and we are excited about that.”
The Bearkats went to the bench in the sixth inning Saturday, and Southeastern Louisiana still couldn’t stop the bleeding.
Krystal Gay and Lauren Burns got things rolling with a walk and an infield single, respectively. Erin Burford walked to load the bases with one-out and Amanda Spivey singled to make it 9-2. Ashley Nelson was hit by a pitch to bring in the final run.
The Lions only managed one more run and it came in the fourth inning thanks to a pair of Bearkat errors. Mikulin set Southeastern Louisiana down in order in the final two innings.
“When we are hitting it takes so much pressure off our pitchers,” Brock added. “I say you give my pitchers two or three runs and they are hard to beat, both of them. It seems like we couldn’t get the hit at the right time and someone comes up and hits a two-run home run, and we lose 2-1 or something like that.
“I hope this is a trend. We keep fooling around with the lineup, but we stuck with one this weekend and I think it worked out pretty good.”
The Kats head to Houston to face Texas Southern in a nonconference doubleheader Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Sam Houston State then heads to Central Arkansas on Saturday to begin a three-game league tilt with a doubleheader at noon.
