HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston bats came alive, led by a 6-RBI night from
Carlos Contreras, as they took down Texas Southern, 10-6, in the series opener on Friday night at Don Sanders Stadium.
The Bearkats (5-5) snapped a 4-game losing streak with the win, pounding out 15 hits, including five for extra bases. Eight of nine starters picked up at least one hit in the game, led by Contreras, who finished 3-for-4 with a walk and a season-best 6 RBI. That included a 3-run homer in a 5-run fifth inning for the Kats that blew the game open.
Sam Houston got the win using just two arms as
Matt Dillard worked his way through 5.0 frames for his first win of the season, striking out six for the night.
Logan Hewitt then came in and worked the final 4.0 innings for his first save.
Jordan Martinez was the losing pitcher for TSU (6-5), walking six and allowing five runs on seven hits in just 4.0 innings to fall to 1-2 for the year.
Trent Touchet and
Jacob Guerrero each joined Contreras with three hits apiece with Touchet picking up a pair of RBI with a single in the fourth inning. That hit came after Contreras had already driven in three with a 2-run double in the first and an RBI single in the second.
A 2-run homer by Johnathon Thomas made it a 5-3 Bearkat lead in the fifth, but the Kats responded with five scores in the bottom half. Guerrero got it started with a leadoff single and scored three batters later on a wild pitch. An RBI from
Christian Smith upped the lead to 7-3 and a TSU error off the bat of
Justin Wishkoski extended the inning for Contreras who crushed the first pitch he saw of his fourth plate appearance over the left-field wall for a 3-run homer that made it a 10-3 Bearkat advantage.
That was all the Kats would need from there, despite TSU getting a pair of runs in the sixth on a home run and RBI triple, and another solo homer by Thomas with two outs in the ninth.
The Kats and Tigers will continue the series on Saturday at Don Sanders Stadium with first pitch of Game 2 set for 3:00 p.m.
