HAMMOND, La. – The Sam Houston Bearkats held off top-seeded Abilene Christian, 15-13, to advance to Saturday's title game of the Southland Conference Tournament vs McNeese.
The Bearkats put up four runs apiece in each of the first three innings, staking themselves to a 12-3 lead.
Gavin Johnson, Chadwick and Schulz all delivered RBI singles in the first inning and Johnson and Schulz got in on the action again with hits in the second.
ACU made it an 8-3 game with a 3-run homer by Brett Hammit in the bottom of the second, but the Kats answered right back as
Bryce Holmes hit a solo homer the other way and Rogers and Chadwick followed with RBI hits, with Chadwick's 2-run double pushing the lead back to 12-3.
But once again the ACU bats were not done as they went right back to work, getting a run in the bottom of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Tommy Cruz and one inning later they got back three more to cut the lead to 12-7.
Cowser got one of those runs back in the top of the fifth with a solo homer, his second of the tournament, but an RBI single by Grayson Tatrow in the bottom half of the frame got it back to 13-8 for the Wildcats. An outfield assist by
Blake Faecher helped limit the damage as
Ryan Peters was able to retire Colton Eager one batter later to keep it at a 5-run Bearkat advantage.
An RBI double by Hammit brought it back to a 13-9 game in the sixth, but the Kats got two more on the board in the top of the seventh on an RBI double by Johnson and a bases-loaded walk to Schulz. The Kats had a chance to add on, but ACU reliever Tanner Riley coaxed a pair of harmless ground balls out of the Kats, including an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.
That proved big one inning later as the ACU offense continued to do its thing, loading the bases with one out for Miller Ladusau, who golfed a grand slam just over the right-field fence to draw ACU to within 15-13.
But
Garrett Egli came in and was stellar in relief, quieting the ACU bats for 1.2 innings, punching out a pair of hitters in a clean eighth. Lusk then entered and sat the Wildcats down in order, getting a highlight-reel catch from
Clayton Chadwick in the process.
