Kats Happy To Fight Another Day
6/3/2012 7:17:00 AM | Baseball
Already dealt one loss, the Bearkats had their backs against the wall and needed to play their best in order to survive another day.
Holding a slim lead and with time running short in the late innings, Sam Houston got exactly what it was looking for and it couldn't have come at a better time.
It wasn't that the Bearkats got a big at-bat or took command with some aggressiveness on the bases.
Instead, it was two uplifting performances in the tightest of spots by Sam Houston starting pitcher Justin Jackson and reliever Michael Burchett at the end that allowed the Kats to sneak past a scrappy Prairie View A&M squad 4-2 in an elimination game Saturday afternoon at Reckling Park and move on to the third day of the Houston Regional.
"I thought Justin Jackson pitched a great game. We needed a fifth-year senior to come out there and do what he did today and throw a lot of strikes," Bearkats head coach David Pierce said. "It wasn't the prettiest win for us, but give Prairie View a lot of credit. Prairie View played hard, they made plays and they threw strikes.
"We're very excited to live for another day. I thought we did a great job pitching with Michael and Justin. We got a couple of hits that were timely and put a little pressure on them. It wasn't our best offensive day, but we'll take it."
Heading into the bottom of the eighth, Sam Houston had a little breathing room, but not much with a 3-1 edge.
Earlier in the game, Jackson had worked himself out of several jams as the Panthers found a way to get on base in six of the first seven innings. The senior right-hander from Magnolia, however, held Prairie View to just one run in the second on a sacrifice fly.
In the bottom of the eighth, Jackson, who had reached the 100-pitch mark in the inning, got into a little trouble.
Panthers first baseman Dominiq Harris kicked off the inning with a single to right, then catcher Evan Richard worked the count full. Jackson regained his composure and struck out designated hitter Michael Long with the bat still on his shoulder.
The Panthers loaded the bases on an error by SHSU freshman first baseman Ryan O'Hearn to put the pressure squarely on Jackson's arm. Behind in the count 3-2 to left fielder Darryl Johnson, Jackson could not get his pitch to hit the right spot and walked in a run to cut Sam Houston's lead to 3-2.
What followed was a meeting on the mound between Pierce and Jackson. While it looked like Jackson was going to be pulled in favor of Burchett to face second baseman Andre Oliver, who was 1-for-2 with a single and a sacrifice fly in his first three plate appearances, Pierce left one of his steadiest starters on the hill.
"I knew we had Michael fresh and ready to go in the bullpen, but I had a lot of faith in my starter, even at that point in the game," Pierce said.
The move to stick with Jackson paid off as Oliver reached for a pitch and rolled one up the middle. Sam Houston second baseman Jessie Plumlee fielded the ball, ran to second base, then threw in time to get Oliver at first.
"(Pierce) came out and said, 'This is your guy. You're going to get him out with a ground ball and a double play,'" Jackson said. "I was just thinking about what pitch to throw and I threw a curveball on the first pitch. I was trying to throw it low, so that he would get on top of it.
"He hit right over the mound and I was going to make a play on it, but Jessie was right there behind me and he got it, stepped on the bag and threw it to first for the double play."
Pierce added, "I knew if he made the pitch, we would have a shot. That's what we talked about. I told him we need a pitch right here and see if you can get a ground ball. We threw a first-pitch curveball. I knew that (Oliver) was probably going to be aggressive and it worked out for us."
Sneaking out of the eighth with the lead, the Kats got a big boost in the top of the ninth from Plumlee, who accounted for three of SHSU's seven hits.
Plumlee hit the ball into the left-center gap and motored to second to lead off the inning. Following a sacrifice bunt by shortstop Corey Toups, which advanced Plumlee to third, center fielder Colt Atwood, who was responsible for driving in three of the Kats' four runs, hit a grounder to second base.
Oliver tried to catch an aggressive Plumlee at the plate, but his throw sailed high and the junior's headfirst slide was executed well enough to score the all-important insurance run.
Trying to get past Saturday's game and move onto today's round wasn't going to happen without another scare.
In the bottom of the ninth, Prairie View shortstop James Fontenot singled to center field to kick off the Panthers' inning. Pierce then went to his bullpen for Burchett to close out the game.
"I actually told Michael a lie out there when he came in and said that (Prairie View's) left-handers don't like it away and right-handers don't like it in when their right-handers do like it in, but I wanted to build his confidence," the coach said much to the surprise of his closer.
The Panthers created a little drama for Burchett after right fielder Brett Valley chopped the ball to the right side of the infield for a single and third baseman Brad Benes was hit with a pitch to load the bases with no outs.
"After that, I was just trying to throw strikes and trying to get a ground ball to get out of it. That was the main thing," Burchett said.
Knowing a hit could either tie the game or knock the Kats out of the NCAA tournament, Burchett knew what he had to do.
The junior from Carthage got Harris to pop out in foul territory. Then after a long battle with Richard, who drew the count full, Burchett struck him out looking. Burchett got the last out that he and the Kats desperately needed as Long grounded out to Toups to end the game and send SHSU on to the third round of the regional.
"I was definitely locating my changeup. That is one of the best pitches that I have," Burchett said. "I got the first guy to pop up to get out of that one and then the next guy battled a lot before I got him to strike out. That was a hard at-bat. The last guy, I was able to get him to ground out to Corey."
Trailing 1-0, the Bearkats' offense came alive in the fifth inning. SHSU managed to load the bases with no outs.
Atwood pushed the Kats ahead with a two-run single to center and later scored to give the Kats a 3-1 lead.
Sam Houston will take on Rice, which fell to Arkansas 1-0 Saturday night, in an elimination game today at 1 p.m. If the Bearkats defeat the Owls, they will face the Razorbacks again at 6 p.m.
The Bearkats can push the regional another day with a pair of victories today and force a winner-take-all contest on Monday evening against Arkansas.
