Kats walk off No. 13 TCU

Sunday, March 7

Houston

3:00 PM

3-5

TCU

8-3

TCU

Sam Houston

Photo by: Jade Salinas

Kats walk off No. 13 TCU

3/7/2021 7:11:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

HOUSTON – The Sam Houston Bearkats have a history of dramatics at Minute Maid Park, and Sunday added to that as the Kats got a walk-off RBI double in the 10^th inning to down No. 13 TCU, 6-5, in the finale of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Classic.

WALK IT OFF ... ALL THE WAY BACK TO HUNTSVILLE!!

Clayton Chadwick with the RBI double to knock off No. 13 TCU in 10 innings!! #EatEmUpKats pic.twitter.com/Dm2y9QM0PQ
— Sam Houston Baseball (@BearkatsBSB) March 8, 2021

The win gave the Kats (3-5) a winning record on the weekend and an all-time winning record in the Classic with this season being the team's third appearance, all since 2014.

Sam Houston trailed the Horned Frogs (8-3), 3-0, after three innings before the offense really got going, scoring two runs in the fourth and three in the seventh before the game-winner in the 10^th.

Lance Lusk got his first career start and struck out four while allowing just one earned run in 5.0 innings, but it was Alex Havlicek who got the win with 2.2 innings of 1-hit relief.

TCU gets 2 in scoring position in the 1st, but Lusk leaves 'em stranded.

Top of the order coming up for the Kats. #EatEmUpKats

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— Sam Houston Baseball (@BearkatsBSB) March 7, 2021

Garrett Wright was the losing pitcher for TCU, facing just three batters in the 10^th inning. Offensively, TCU finished with nine hits, led by three with multi-hit games and Brayden Taylor's two RBI.

The Kats, meanwhile, got 2-hit games from four players, with Trent Touchet turning in a big day, going 2-for-4 with a 2-run triple in the seventh that gave the Kats a 5-4 lead. He also drew a leadoff walk to open the 10^th with pinch runner Erick Davila coming around to score on Chadwick's heroics.

KATS TAKE THE LEAD!!

Trent Touchet triples home 2 more runs and the Kats go up 5-4 on No. 13 TCU in the bottom of the 7th. #EatEmUpKats

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— Sam Houston Baseball (@BearkatsBSB) March 7, 2021

It was just Chadwick's second at-bat of the game, having struck out earlier in a pinch-hit opportunity, but he jumped on the second pitch he saw off of Wright with Davila standing on second base, lining it off the left-center field wall to walk it off.

Sam Houston was its own worst enemy in the early innings, committing three of its four errors in the first three innings as the Horned Frogs went up 3-0. But a 2-run single by Corbin Vines in the bottom of the fourth got the Kats on the board.

Kats are on the board!!

Corbin Vines lines a 2-run single into CF and the Kats cut the TCU lead to 3-2 in the 4th. #EatEmUpKats

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— Sam Houston Baseball (@BearkatsBSB) March 7, 2021

TCU added a run in the sixth to go back up 4-2 and looked to have that lead in hand in the seventh as reliever Haylen Green was one strike away from his third straight clean inning; however, Christian Smith and Jack Rogers singled to keep the inning alive and Blake Faecher made it a 4-3 game with an RBI single of his own. One batter later Touchet shot a ball into center field that fell under the glove of Phillip Sikes, scoring a pair and putting Touchet on third base with a 2-run triple that gave the Kats a 5-4 lead.

A 1-out double by Conner Shepherd in the eighth got TCU going again, however, and an error on the play put him on third to set the table for Zach Humphreys who delivered a sacrifice fly to knot the game at 5-5.

The teams traded zeros in the ninth and Havlicek worked around a leadoff walk in the 10^th to keep TCU off the board and set the stage for the Kats in extra innings.
Sam Houston will now take another shot at a ranked opponent for the third consecutive game on Tuesday at No. 19 Texas. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. and will be aired on the Longhorn Network.