By Gene Schallenberg Huntsville Item 

HUNTSVILLE - After six innings of having little production at the plate, the Bearkats' bats woke up in the latter innings of Sunday's series finale against Utah.

Sam Houston State nearly overcame a nine-run deficit, but fell to Utah 9-7 in the series finale. The Bearkats dropped to 0-7 on the season.

"I was glad we came back," SHSU head coach Mark Johnson said. "On Sundays you get a chance because you're in everybody's bullpen. I was pleased that we came back and persevered as far as we did.

"It's a tough start, but we're going to be fine. Sometimes, a game doesn't give you a lot of stuff. You've just got to rally, keep persevering, keep playing hard and eventually it'll all equal itself out."

Through the first two-thirds of the game, the Bearkats had little to show for it. The Kats had only three hits and had just one runner get into scoring position.

Deep in a nine-run hole after Utah extended its one-run lead with an eight-run fifth inning, the Bearkats started to catch fire at the plate.

First baseman Taylor Davis singled through the left side of the infield. Left fielder Ruston Harris ignited the Bearkats with a homer over the left-field wall that ricocheted off the light pole at the Bearkat Softball Complex. Sam Houston State didn't score any more runs that inning, but the Bearkats were just getting started.

Sam Houston kept Utah from increasing its lead after Michael Hilliard, who relieved Will Murray and allowed a lead-off double to shortstop Michael Beltran, retired the next three batters the end the inning.

The Kats picked up where they left off in the home half of the eighth.

Bearkats third baseman Jessie Plumlee led off the inning and doubled off the left-center field wall. Shortstop Ryan Mooney then hit a chopper up the middle to drive in Plumlee.

Second baseman Braeden Riley followed that with a liner up the middle. Center fielder Mark Hudson drew a walk to load the bases with no outs, then Davis walked, which brought in Mooney and trimmed the lead to 9-4.

Sam Houston wasn't finished though. The Bearkats scored three more runs to cut the lead to 9-7.

In their first two at-bats of the final inning, the Bearkats drew walks. Riley laid down a sacrifice bunt along the first-base line to put Plumlee and Mooney into scoring position. Hudson then struck out.

Representing the winning run for the second game in a row, Davis, who went 3-for-3 with a walk in his previous plate appearances, hit a grounder to third baseman Nick Kuroczko, whose throw barely beat Davis to first base.

"In those last couple of innings, we finally stepped back on some breaking pitches," Davis said. "We were getting those pitches and we were putting them through the infield.

"I wish I could've gotten the big hit for us, but it was a pretty good comeback effort really. A lot of teams would've given up in our situation. After trailing by nine runs, we ended up getting seven and had a chance to send the game to extra innings. That's definitely a positive we can take from this game."