SUGAR LAND -- Center fielder Colt Atwood broke the school record for career hits as he helped lead Sam Houston to a 6-1 victory over A&M-Corpus Christi to make the No. 5 seeded Bearkats one of only two unbeaten teams left in the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament.
No. 7 seed Houston Baptist also stands 2-0 in the event after a 6-1 victory over Central Arkansas. Both the Kats and the Huskies will await the winners of loser's bracket games as the field continues to be whittled down Friday at Constellation Field in Sugar Land.
In Sam Houston's 13 previous trips to the Southland post-season event, the Kats have won their opening two games six times. Four of those years (1996, 2007, 2008 and 2009) Sam Houston won their final two contests to earn the tournament championship and advance to the NCAA Regionals.
Delayed by a two hour and 21 minute weather delay during the HBU-UCA game preceding the Bearkat-Islanders clash, Sam Houston's game did not start until 9:33 p.m. The game finished at 12:14 a.m.
It took Atwood two swings to break the record, laying down a perfect bunt to second base in the opening inning and a shot to the left side with a 0-0 count in the third frame. He added a third hit in the fifth with the count 0-1 on a blast up the middle.
Atwood's 293 career hits broke the record of 291 set from 2008 to 2011 by Braeden Riley. Atwood now holds four all-time Sam Houston records including most games played (237), most starts (235) and most at bats (974).
“It's a big win. Being able to get the afternoon off tomorrow and not get double-dipped tomorrow is a great position to be in,” Atwood said. “It's huge and saves pitching. It's what we needed to do and we got it done.
"It's nice to get the record and, honestly, I'm glad to get it out of the way. People have been telling me that its getting close and that makes it worse. It all goes to my teammates who get us there to make this tournament and to the regionals the best three years.”
The Islanders scored first as left fielder Jordan Lee walked with one out in the top of the third and scored on a double to right center by designated hitter Zacarius Hardy.
Right fielder Bryce Johnson led off the bottom of the third with a double to left center, moved to third on Atwood's second hit and scored on a sacrifice fly by left fielder Hayden Simerly. Atwood reached third base on designated hitter Jake MacWilliam's shot down the right field line. Atwood scored to give Sam Houston a 2-1 lead on a ground out by second baseman Zach Smith.
Sam Houston added four insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on RBI singles by left fielder Hayden Simerly, MacWilliam, Smith and Manning.
Logan Boyd (6-4) allowed only three hits in six innings to earn the victory on the mound. Boyd struck out five of the 23 batters he faced, giving up only one run. Alex Bisacca picked up his fourth save of the season. The senior pitched the final three innings, giving up only one hit in the ninth and having two batters reach base on errors in the eighth. Bisacca struck out two Islanders.
A&M-Corpus Christi threatened twice, but again defensive plays helped the Kats out of jams. Shortstop Miles Manning, second baseman Zach Smith and first baseman Spence Rahm turned a bases-loaded double play in the second inning. The Islanders had runners at first and second in the top of the eighth but their final batter grounded out to Smith to end the inning.
“It's important to win the first game in a post-season tournament, but winning the second game is where you make your hay,” head coach Matt Deggs said. “This is so big. I was really proud of the way the hitters were so tenacious and battled at the plate.
"Logan Boyd did a great job of battling through some adversity early in the game. We hoped we could get four innings out of him, then we got five and then six. That really will help us with our pitching down the line. When Logan battled back from a 3-and-1 count to force a double play with one out and the bases loaded in the second inning, that was big.”
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Day 1 - Wednesday, May 20
Game 1 - #6 Central Arkansas def. #3 Nicholls 7-6
Game 2 - #7 Houston Baptist def. #2 Northwestern State 4-1
Game 3- #8 A&M-Corpus Christi def. #1 Southeastern Louisiana 4-2
Game 4 - #5 Sam Houston def. #4 McNeese State 5-1
Day 2 - Thursday, May 21
Game 5 - #2 Northwestern St. def. #3 Nicholls 4-3 (Nicholls eliminated)
Game 6 - #1 Southeastern La. def. #4 McNeese 3-2, 12 inn. (McNeese eliminated)
Game 7 - #7 Houston Baptist def. #6 Central Arkansas 6-1
Game 8 - #5 Sam Houston def. #8 A&M-Corpus Christi 6-1
Day 3 – Friday, May 22
Game 9 - #2 Northwestern St. vs. #6 Central Arkansas, 9 a.m.
Game 10 - #1 Southeastern La. vs. #8 A&M-Corpus Christi , 12 noon
Game 11 –#7 Houston Baptist vs. Game 9 winner, 4 p.m.
Game 12 - #5 Sam Houston vs. Game 10 winner, 7 p.m.
