Right fielder Sarah Allison's sacrifice fly in the seventh helped Sam Houston force extra innings and her walk-off single up the middle in the 11th provided the Bearkats a 6-5 non-conference softball victory over Texas Southern Wednesday night.
The game was scheduled to be played in Houston but wet fields at Texas Southern forced moving the game to the Bearkat Softball Complex in Huntsville.
Down 3-1, Texas Southern rallied for two runs in both the top of the sixth and seventh innings to take a 5-3 lead. Sam Houston scored two to tie in bottom of the seventh to take the game into extra innings.
The Bearkats now stand 13-24 for the year while the defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Tigers drop to 14-15.
“It was a tough game but a good one to win,” Sam Houston head coach Bob Brock said. “Coach (Worley) Barker really has done a great job with Texas Southern's program.”
Sam Houston totaled 14 hits while TSU posted 11. The Bearkats left 10 runners on base while the Tigers stranded nine.
Texas Southern got off to a quick start as shortstop Thomasina Garza singled to score right fielder Jessica Miller who opened the game with a single. The Tigers loaded the bases in the top of the first on two more hits and an error but the Kats got to quick outs to get out of the jam.
Third baseman Peyton Webb led off the bottom of the second inning with a single up the right field line. After being sacrificed to second by left fielder Jennie Kieval, Webb scored on a single to left center field by first baseman Angelica Gonzales as the SHSU women took a 2-1 lead.
An over-the-shoulder catch by Tiger center fielder Brianna Simpson as she hit the outfield wall robbed Gonzales what would have been a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to keep the Kats within one run.
Catcher Tiffany Castillo hit a shot over the fence and under the scoreboard in left field to extend the Kat lead to 3-1 in the fifth inning. The homer was Castillo's fifth of the year and 20th of her three-year SHSU career.
Texas Southern tied the contest with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the sixth inning on a throwing error and a run-scoring single by designated player Krsyalani Yockman. The Tigers took the lead in the top of the seventh on a two-run homer by Parker.
After singles by Gonzales, center fielder Jessica Slater and second baseman Dani Allen loaded the bases, right fielder Sarah Allison brought in one run with a sacrifice fly and Allen scored on a passed ball to force extra innings.
Slater led off the 11th inning with a single then reached third when the Tiger right field fumbled a base hit by Allen to let the two runners advance. With one out, Allison slammed a ball straight up the middle for the game winner.
Meme Quinn (6-6) was the winner in the circle for SHSU. She limited the Tigers to three hits and struck out three batters in five innings of relief. Haley Baros was the starter for Sam Houston.
The Bearkats will play host to Abilene Christian in a three-game Southland Conference series this weekend.
