MESA, Ariz. — Seven runs in the first two innings proved to be too much for Sam Houston to overcome in a 10-6 loss to Utah Valley in round two of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament at Hohokam Stadium on Thursday.
The second-seeded Bearkats (34-23) drop into the loser's bracket and will play an elimination game against Abilene Christian on Friday at 3 p.m. Sam Houston knocked off the fourth-seeded Wildcats 11-7 on a walk-off grand slam by
Justin Wishkoski in the 11
th inning on Wednesday.
The third-seeded Wolverines jumped on Sam Houston starter
Coltin Atkinson for five runs in the first inning thanks to a pair of home runs.
The Bearkats answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame. Wishkoski belted an RBI triple,
Carlos Contreras drove in a run on a groundout and
Clayton Chadwick added an RBI single to make it 5-3.
The Wolverines came right back with two runs in the second inning, which was the theme of the game. Each time Sam Houston looked to get back in it, Utah Valley would added another run.
Tyler Davis, who drove in the final run with a single in the ninth, cut the lead to 7-4 with an RBI single up the middle in the fifth. The Kats got another run on a wild pitch in the inning to pull within two.
After the seven runs given up by Atkinson,
Gavi Coldiron came on in relief and shut the Wolverines down with a career-high nine strikeouts in four innings before running into trouble seventh as Utah Valley put the game away with three more runs.
