Huntsville - Designated hitter Chris Andreas went 3-for-3 and center fielder Mark Hudson was 3-for-4 with both picking up a pair of RBIs as Sam Houston defeated UTSA 10-5 in the first contest in a three-game Southland Conference baseball series Friday night.
Led by leftfielder Riley Good who went 3-for-4, UTSA jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first and was tied with SHSU 5-5 in the top of the third. But the Kats rallied for three runs in the bottom of the fourth and never looked back.
The victory is Sam Houston's third in a row, lifting the Bearkats to 15-8 for the season and 2-5 in Southland Conference. UTSA dropped to 7-16 and 1-6.
Senior right-hander Paul Spinn (2-1) picked up the victory in relief. Spinn entered in the third inning and held the Roadrunners to one hit in three and a third innings. Starter Matt Shelton gave up five hits and five runs in two and two-thirds innings. Junior right-hander Michael Oros earned his first save as a Bearkat, closing out the game.
UTSA jumped on started pitcher Matt Shelton for three runs in the top of the first inning as right fielder Tyler Carpenter and first baseman Ryan Hutson posted RBI singles and second baseman Matthew James walked with the bases loaded.
Sam Houston bounced back for two runs in the bottom of the first on a two-run double by center fielder Mark Hudson.
A two-run double by designated hitter Chris Andreas and an RBI single by second baseman Ryan Mooney gave the Bearkats a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the second inning.
Designated hitter Jake Wood scored on an error and third baseman Ryan Dalton's run-scoring single knotted the contest 5-5 in the top of the third.
Left fielder Luke Plucheck's double down the left fielder line added a run in the bottom of the third. Andreas singled and later scored on an error and third baseman Kevin Miller and catcher Doug Oney each produced RBI singles to put the Kats up 9-5 in the fourth inning.
Riley's sacrifice fly to left center put another run on the boards for the Kats in the top of the eighth inning.
Casey Selsor (0-3) was the losing pitcher for UTSA.
Sam Houston and UTSA will meet in the second game of the Southland Conference series at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Tickets for all Sam Houston State home athletic events are on sale now online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets or at the SHSU athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone is (936) 294-1729.
