Hammond, La - Taylor Davis went 3-for-5 with a pair of home runs to lead Sam Houston State in its weekend series opener against Southeastern Louisiana but the Lions parlayed nine hits into a 9-5 victory Friday night.
Southeastern Louisiana (34-14 16-9) jumped out to a quick 3-0 advantage on a three-run double to center field by catcher Josh Cryer in the bottom of the first inning. Cryer added another RBI on a single in the third.
A solo home run by Chris Ernest in the fourth and two-run singles by Trey Martin and Cass Hargis in the sixth gave the Lions a 9-2 lead.
Davis's home runs came in the second and fifth innings for Sam Houston. Davis and Kevin Miller each had an RBI single in the seventh and Mark Hudson added a run-scoring single in the eighth to cut the margin to four runs, but the Kats could come no closer.
The loss was the 11th for the Bearkats in their last 13 games and dropped Sam Houston to 17-30 for the year and 9-16 in Southland Conference action.
Dallas Gallant (2-8) was the losing pitcher as the Bearkat starter. He gave up eight hits in five and one third innings while striking out nine Lion batters.
Brandon Efferson (8-3) was the winning pitcher for Southeastern Louisiana.
The Bearkats and the Lions will meet in the second game of the series at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Sam Houston closes out its regular season home schedule May 14-16 with Central Arkansas.
Tickets for Sam Houston State home baseball games are on sale now online at www.gobearkats.com.
For more information on exciting money-saving ticket offers contact the Sam Houston State ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. The ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.
