NEW ORLEANS – After having their weekend series schedule adjusted due to likely weather issues, the Sam Houston baseball team split a doubleheader on Friday with New Orleans at Maestri Field.
The Privateers (16-14, 11-7 SLC) scored eight runs in the first two innings of Game 1 and made that stand up for an abbreviated, 7-inning win; however, in Game 2 it was the Bearkats (14-14, 10-8 SLC) who opened up a 9-0 lead on their way to the win.
In all, Sam Houston outscored UNO 17-4 in the final 14 innings of the day.
The teams are scheduled to play a single game on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. and another on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.; however, fans are encouraged to keep tabs on @BearkatsBSB on Twitter and GoBearkats.com in case of any further schedule alterations.
GAME 1 (7 innings)
New Orleans 9, Sam Houston 7
The Bearkats hit three home runs, but New Orleans got four of their own and a strong 3.0 innings of relief by lefty Kyle Khachadourian to hold off SHSU in the opener.
Bryce Holmes,
Colton Cowser and
Mason Schulz all went deep off of UNO starter Chris Turpin; however, Bearkat (13-14, 9-8 SLC) starter
Tyler Davis had a rough go of things early on, giving up eight runs on four Privateer homers before allowing just one unearned run in the final four innings of play.
He fell to 4-2 on the season, while Turpin upped his record to 5-1.
Luther Woullard did the most damage for UNO, homering in each of his first two at-bats of the game and finishing with four RBI. KC Simonic and Travis Gober also added homers for the Privateers.
Holmes got the scoring started in the first with a 2-run homer of his own, but Woullard and Simonic responded with back-to-back jacks with two outs in the bottom of the inning.
Schulz tied it up for SHSU with a solo homer in to open the second, but UNO led off its half with a homer by Gober to retake the lead and then proceeded to put up four more runs on a 2-run double by Gaige Howard and another homer by Woullard.
Turpin kept the Kats off the board in the third, but gave up a run on a sacrifice fly to
Anthony MacKenzie, who finished 2-for-3 with a double, before Cowser surged the Kats back into things with an opposite-field, 3-run homer that cut the lead to 8-7.
Sam Houston had more chances to do damage later in the fourth and then again in the fifth, but lined out to end the inning each time. Meanwhile, UNO would add an unearned run in the sixth before Khachadourian closed it out in the seventh.
GAME 2
Sam Houston 13, New Orleans 4
Trent Touchet went 4-for-5 with four RBI and a pair of homers to lead an offensive explosion for the Bearkats as they squared the twinbill with a win in the nightcap.
The Kats racked up 17 hits in the game and had three multi-run innings, including a 5-run third and a 4-run fourth.
Along with Touchet, Cowser hit another home run and scored three runs to go with three RBI, while two of
Blake Faecher's three hits were doubles to go with a pair of RBI.
Corbin Vines also had two RBI singles, while
Wes Folse had one of his own.
Dominic Robinson was the benefactor of the big output, moving his record to 3-1 with a solid 5.1 innings of work that saw him allow just three runs with eight strikeouts. He was relieved by
Garrett Egli who went on to throw the 3.2 frames, allowing just one run on five hits with a pair of strikeouts.
Ryan Peters came on to toss the ninth, retiring all three hitters he faced with two strikeouts.
A 2-run single by Cowser, along with a 2-run double by Faecher and an RBI single from Vines pieced together a 5-run third inning that got the Kats out in front. An inning later an RBI single by Vines was followed by a 3-run home run by Touchet to surge the lead to 9-0.
UNO got two back on an inside-the-park home run by Darren Willis, but Sam Houston got those runs back in the sixth on back-to-back homers by Cowser and Touchet to open the inning. Folse would later add an RBI single to score
Brandon Pruitt and make it 12-2.
The Privateers got a couple back in the sixth on RBI hits by Gaige and Pearce Howard, and MacKenzie picked up an RBI single in the ninth to round out the scoring.
