HAMMOND, La. – The Sam Houston Bearkats cranked three big home runs and used just two pitchers in taking down Lamar, 7-4, on Thursday morning to stay alive in the Southland Conference Tournament at Pat Kenelly Diamond.
The Bearkats (27-24) trailed 4-3 going into the bottom of the sixth, but tied it up on a solo home run by
Jack Rogers and then went ahead on a solo shot by
Easton Loyd in the bottom of the seventh.
The win advances the Kats in the tournament as they will next take on the loser of Thursday's game vs Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and top-seeded Abilene Christian on Friday morning at 9:00 a.m.
Lance Lusk got the win with 3.1 innings of 1-hit relief of
Kyle Backhus, who was strong in his start. The senior lefty took a no-decision, but punched out five and walked just one in 5.1 innings, allowing four runs – two earned – before being lifted.
The Kats needed that comeback due to the Cardinals (25-23) getting to SHSU for three runs in the middle innings to go in front on an RBI double by Ryan Snell in the sixth. All-SLC reliever Jack Dallas pitched well, but took the loss despite 4.2 innings of relief.
Sam Houston saw its bats come to life throughout the lineup, pounding out a dozen hits in the game.
Colton Cowser gave the Kats a 2-1 lead with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the first and finished with a 4-for-4 game to lead the way.
Rogers delivered his 13
th homer of the year to tie things in the sixth and finished with three hits of his own, while Loyd finished with a pair of hits and his third homer of the year.
The homer by Loyd stood up, but a 2-out, 2-run single by
Anthony MacKenzie in the eighth gave Lusk some breathing room to work with in the ninth.
