HUNTSVILLE – Sam Houston scored four runs in the ninth and got a walk-off RBI single from
Bryce Holmes for a 7-6 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday afternoon in the series finale at Don Sanders Stadium.
The Bearkats (8-13, 5-7 SLC) clinched their first series win with their third walk-off of the season with the win. They trailed 6-2 entering the night, but pushed across four runs in the ninth on a 2-run single by
Colton Cowser, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly from
Blake Faecher to knot it up.
Holmes was then the hero in the 10
th smacking a single into right field with two outs in the inning and the bases loaded, scoring
Gavin Johnson with the winning run. It was Holmes' second hit of the day and fourth time he'd reached base.
It made a winner of freshman
Coltin Atkinson who allowed just one hit in 2.0 innings of relief, putting out a fire in the ninth before getting a big strikeout to leave the go-ahead run on second base in the 10
th. That came in relief of
Tanner Sembera who struck out three in 3.0 scoreless innings.
In all, the bullpen combo of Atkinson, Sembera,
Ryan Peters and
Matt Rudis did not allow an earned run in 8.1 innings of work.
The Islanders (5-17, 1-6 SLC) scored the first six runs of the game and took advantage of two early Bearkat errors to get an early lead, but the Kats got going with an RBI single by
Wes Folse in the sixth and a solo homer by
Jack Rogers in the seventh to cut the lead to 6-2.
AMCC was able to get out of a jam in the eighth, but the Kats quickly got going with singles by
Corbin Vines and
Anthony MacKenzie to open the ninth, followed by a walk to Rogers to load the bases. Cowser then singled home a pair to cut the lead in half and Rogers made it 6-5 when he scored on a wild pitch.
Faecher then knotted it up with a fly ball to center field that scored Cowser before the Islanders forced extra innings with a fly out that kept the winning run stranded on third base.
Atkinson worked around a 1-out double by Luke Marbach, who finished 4-for-4 for the game, and a walk to Johnson and a single by Vines got the 10
th going. After a sac bunt from MacKenzie, Islander reliever Dom Lopez hit Rogers to load the bases, but got a bit strikeout of Cowser to keep the sacks loaded.
But he was not so fortunate with Holmes as the Bearkat left fielder scorched the second pitch he saw into left field to end it.
Sam Houston will now head to Conway, Ark., to open up a 4-game series with Central Arkansas on Thursday.
