Five outs away from elimination from the Southland Conference baseball tournament, No. 8 seed A&M-Corpus Christi rallied for four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat Sam Houston 6-4 and force an “as necessary” game Saturday at 1 p.m. at Constellation Field in Sugar Land.

No. 7 seed Houston Baptist awaits the winner after defeating Central Arkansas in the other semifinal matchup Friday night. The Huskies have won all three of their tournament games. Sam Houston is 2-1 in the event while the Islanders are 3-1.

First baseman Spence Rahm has two hits and right fielder Bryce Johnson was one of six othher Bearkats with a single hit Friday night. Rham and Johnson produced the team's only RBIs. The other score came on plays with an Islander error. Sam Houston tied the game 1-1 in the third inning and scored two more in the sixth inning.

Sam Odom limited the Islanders to only an unearned run in his first six innings on the mound. He left the game after a second run with two out in the bottom of the seventh. For the night, Odom struck out seven of the 26 Islander batters he faced. Ryan Brinley (1-6) took the loss after working the final inning and a third.

“I thought Sam Odom pitched really well for us,” head coach Matt Deggs said. “He gave us a chance to win. We have a 3-1 lead in the seventh and 3-2 lead in the eighth. The wheels kind of came off there at the end. We're going to have to play better tomorrow.”

A catcher's interference call on an attempted pitch-out proved to be a turning point. The call put Islander runners on first and second, setting up an RBI single by Lukas Hermanson to tie the game 3-3. After Brinley struck out another batter for the inning's second out, Casey Thomas singled in a run and Zacarias Hardy brought in two more scores with the fifth hit of the eighth frame.

To win the championship, Sam Houston must defeat both the Islanders and Houston Baptist in what amounts to another doubleheader for the Bearkats.

“Doubleheaders aren't anything that we're not used to. This will be our tenth doubleheader of the year,” Deggs said. “We're prepared for it. That's why it's a double elimination tournament. You get a lose you have to come back. Not to take anything away from A&M-Corpus Christi. They had a long day and they fought hard. They're a good ball club. They got the hits there at the end when they needed it.”

An RBI single by Kyle Danfield scored Tyler Ware as A&M-Corpus Christi tallied in the bottom of the first inning. Ware was hit by a pitch then reached second on a shot up the middle by  Hardy.

Sam Houston had runners in scoring position in each of the first five innings and ended the game with 12 left on base. The first Kat run came in the third when Johnson picked up a leadoff walk. Center fielder Colt Atwood singled to left field. Both runners moved up on stolen bases. Johnson scored on a throwing error on a ground ball by second baseball Zach Smith to tie the game 1-1.

The Bearkats took the lead with a two-run sixth inning. First baseman Spence Rahm led off with a single to right field. Catcher Collin Yelich hit an infield single and both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt from shortstop Miles Manning. After third baseman Ryan Brinley was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Johnson's grounder to second base scored Rahm. An errand throw by the second baseman going for a double play allowed Yelich to score as well to put the Kats up 3-1.

A&M-Corpus Christi got a run back in the bottom of the seventh inning as left fielder Jordan Lee singled, stole second base and scored on a single by Hardy to cut the Sam margin to 3-2. Brinley moved from third base to the mound to end the Islander threat with a strike out.

Travis Lee added a fourth run for Sam Houston on an AMUCC throwing error in the top of the ninth.

“It was a hard fought game,” Johnson said. “Both teams played their hearts out. We just came up short. Sam pitched a great game and we played good defense. Our bats just weren't there when we needed them. Tomorrow we need to step that up.

“We've faced some tough times and adversity this season and bounced back. That will help us. We believe in our pitching staff and we've played plenty of doubleheaders this year.  We're in the double digits with doubleheaders.”

If Sam Houston can defeat A&M-Corpus Christi in the “as necessary” game, the trip to the finals will mark Sam Houston's sixth championship game appearance in their 14 Southland tournament appearance. The Kats have won in four of their five championship finals to earn NCAA Regional playoff berths.

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 - #6 Central Arkansas def. #2 Northwestern State 5-4 (Demons eliminated)
Game 10 - #8 A&M-Corpus Christi def. #1 Southeastern Louisiana 6-5 (Lions eliminated)
Game 11 –#7 Houston Baptist def. #6 Central Arkansas 1-0 (UCA eliminated)
Game 12 - #8 A&M-Corpus Ch#risti def. 5 Sam Houston 6-4

Day 4 – Saturday, May 23
Game 13 – Sam Houston vs. A&M-Corpus Christi – 1 p.m.
Game 14 – Houston Baptist vs. Game 13 winner – 6 p.m.