HUNTSVILLE -- Dylan Ebbs and Travis Lee drove in three runs apiece to lead Sam Houston to a 12-4 win over New Orleans in the Southland opener for both teams Friday night at Don Sanders Stadium. The series will conclude with a doubleheader Saturday starting at 1 p.m.
Firing on all cylinders offensively, the Bearkats (6-8, 1-0) cranked out 15 hits and capitalized on four errors by the Privateers (6-8, 0-1). Ebbs and Lee were joined by Rahm and Winne with multiple hit games.
“I thought we competed extremely well at the plate tonight. I really liked our approach. We had a really hard but good week of practice,” Bearkat head coach Matt Deggs said. “We did a nice job of executing. Our short game was really good tonight. We pulled off some hit runs and stole some bases.”
Starting pitcher Andrew Godail tossed seven innings and allowed just one hit. He struck out four batters and picked up his first win of the season. Jordan Church tossed the final two innings in relief and allowed three unearned runs.
“Andrew Godail set a great tone for us. He had really good stuff tonight. His ball was moving all over the place, it was cutting and it was sinking. He had good command of his slider. He gave the hitters a chance to settle in and get things going.”
The Bearkats opened the scoring in the first inning after Lee worked a walk with two outs. The senior right fielder then stole second base and advanced to third on an errant throw by the catcher.
After left fielder Hayden Simerly worked a walk Ebbs, the designated hitter, drove Lee in with an RBI bloop single to center field. Lee was 3-for-3 in the game with three runs scored and three RBI and Ebbs finished the game 2-for-2 with three RBI and two runs scored.
“Last week was kind of rough but tonight we decided to just have fun,” Lee said. “It was a blast. We all just relaxed and the ball looked like a watermelon to us. We just got one hit after another and we just kept on going.”
Godail retired the first seven batters of the game but got into trouble with one out in the top of the third.
The Privateers tied the game up 1-1 with three straight one-out singles. Shortstop Jake MacWilliam prevented another run from scoring by throwing out a runner at the plate after an infield single. A walk loaded the bases but Godail got a groundout to get out of the inning.
SHSU immediately retook the lead after a key Privateer error in the bottom of the third inning. After center fielder Colt Atwood singled with one out, second baseman Zach Smith hit what looked like a tailor-made double play ball but the shortstop threw it away. Lee gave the Bearkats the lead with an RBI single to score Atwood.
Ebbs helped turn it into a big inning with a two-out two-RBI single to left field. First baseman Spence Rahm followed with an RBI single to plate Ebbs and make the score 5-1.
The Kats put three more runs on the board in the fourth. Third baseman Ryan Brinley singled to start the frame. MacWilliam was hit on the hand while attempting to bunt and had to leave the game. His replacement Miles Manning reached on an error on a sacrifice bunt attempt. Atwood then advanced both runners with a successful sacrifice bunt.
Smith dropped down a squeeze bunt to score Brinley from third base. The Bearkat second baseman then stole second base. Lee ripped a single up the middle to plate both Manning and Smith, making the score 8-1.
One more run came across in the bottom of the fifth after Ebbs was hit by a pitch, Rahm singled and catcher Collin Yelich reached on a bunt to load the bases. Brinley drove in the run on a sacrifice fly.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, New Orleans brought in reliever Mitchell Cohen, who loaded the bases with one out. Pinch-hitter Trevor Winne delivered with a two-out two-RBI single to left field that scored Lee and pinch-hitter Bryce Johnson. Winne had a 2-for-2 night with three RBI.
The Bearkats tacked on one more run in the bottom of the eighth and New Orleans added three more in the top of the ninth.
