Top games of 2009-10: No. 23, Baseball knocks off Houston at Don Sanders Stadium
7/23/2010 12:10:00 PM | Baseball, Athletics
For the No. 23 game of last season, we go to the diamond, where the Bearkats had several thrilling finishes in 2010.
Thanks to reliever Paul Spinn, the bats of first baseman Taylor Davis and Kevin Miller and a stout defense, Sam Houston State closed the door on the Houston Cougars with a 5-3 victory at Don Sanders Stadium on April 27.
"We got some key hits. It was a good baseball game," SHSU head coach Mark Johnson said after the game. "I thought Spinn was kind of our hero. He came in and put up some big zeros (on the board) and gave us a chance to come back and get the lead."
Spinn was solid in relief of starter Justin Jackson, who gave up two runs in three innings.
With the Kats down 2-1 in the fourth, Spinn (2-5) gave up a one-out single to catcher Chris Wallace, but got third baseman Austin Gracey to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
The junior from Temple College followed with four more scoreless innings before leaving in the top of ninth after allowing two straight singles with one out and the Kats up 5-2. Junior Brent Powers gave up an RBI double to Gracey, but got the final two outs to earn the save.
"I just tried to utilize my sinker as much as I could," Spinn said. "I had good movement on my fastball. I just wanted to get ground balls and let my defense do the work behind me. It was effective."
Sam Houston did a good job of manufacturing runs.
Davis led off the second inning with a single, the fourth with a double and the sixth with a walk. Shortstop Ryan Mooney moved Davis over to second all three times with a pair of sacrifice bunts and a fly out to right field.
Davis scored on a sacrifice fly by Miller in the second and came home on a double by Tyler Fiebrich in the fourth to tie the game. Center fielder Payton Wisener gave the Bearkats the lead for good when he drove Davis in with an infield single in the sixth.
"We have been struggling a little bit lately, but it was good to get some two-out hits tonight in the clutch," said Davis, who went 2-for-3 with three runs. "We were just trying to get something going. It was a good win for us."
Second baseman Braeden Riley added an RBI single in the seventh to stretch the lead to 4-2. Fiebrich ripped an RBI single in the eighth for another insurance run.
Left fielder Jessie Plumlee, designated hitter Chris Andreas and catcher Brandon Yates, who threw out two Cougars trying to steal second, each added a hit for Sam Houston.
