One out away from Sam Houston's third Southland Conference baseball series sweep of the year, the Bearkats saw the victory snatched away by two Abilene Christian home runs.
ACU scored two runs to tie in the ninth and another to win in the bottom of the tenth. The tallies came on home runs by pinch hitter Taylor Fajardo and shortstop Kyle Carroll.
The loss ended an eight-game winning streak for the Kats. Sam Houston now stands 22-20 for the year and 13-8 in Southland Conference play. The Wildcats upped their record to 9-28 for the year and 7-11 in league action. Sam Houston swept a doubleheader from ACU Saturday by scores of 6-5 and 8-2.
Most of the contest was a pitching duel. After four scoreless innings, catcher Hunter Courson put the Bearkats on the board with a solo home run to left fielder. The hit marked the sophomore's fourth home run of the year.
Sam Houston added a second run in the top of the eighth inning. Center fielder Colt Atwood walked, moved to third on a Bryce Johnson single and scored on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Spence Rahm.
With two out in the bottom of the ninth, the Wildcats roared back. Left fielder Marcelle Carter singled to center field and pinch hitter Taylor Fajardo homered to left center to tie the contest at two runs apiece.
Sam Houston went three-up, three-down in the top of the 10th inning. Carroll led off the bottom of the tenth with his walk-off homer to left field.
Sam Odom started on the mound and faced 23 batters in his six innings of work. He limited the Wildcats to four hits and struck out three batters. Alex Bisacca retired all five batters he faced in relief. Jordon Church pitched gave up two rruns in the ninth. Ryan Brinley (1-4) took the loss after facing two Wildcat batters.
Kevin Sheets (1-2) was the winning pitcher for Abilene Christian. The Wildcats out-hit Sam Houston 8-6. The Kats left nine runners on base.
Sam Houston's next action is a three-game non-conference series in Norman, Oklahoma, next Friday through Sunday against the Oklahoma Sooners.
