MESA, Ariz. — Sam Houston put on a hitting display to stave off elimination by scoring 39 runs in wins over Abilene Christian and Grand Canyon at the WAC Tournament on Friday at Hohokam Stadium.
The second-seeded Bearkats pummeled the fourth-seeded Wildcats 17-10 to setup a showdown with the top-seeded Antelopes who were upset by sixth-seeded UT Arlington on Thursday. Sam Houston pounded GCU 22-8, the most runs scored in a WAC Tournament game since 2007 and fourth most all time, in eight innings to advance to play Utah Valley on Saturday at 5 p.m.
The third-seeded Wolverines and Mavericks played a late game Friday night. If UTA manages to win, they will advance to the championship game at 9 p.m. Saturday, but if Utah Valley wins, Sam Houston would have to beat the undefeated Wolverines twice on Saturday (5 p.m. and 9 p.m.) to win the tournament.
The Bearkats jumped out to a 3-0 on ACU with a two-run home run by
Justin Wishkoski in the first and an RBI double by
Jake Tatom in the second.
The Wildcats briefly took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the second and two more in the fourth before Sam Houston began to pull away in the fifth.
Clayton Chadwick and
Walker Janek had RBI doubles in the fifth, and
Myles Jefferson ripped a two-run blast to left field before Janek made it 9-4 with a two-run single in the sixth.
The Bearkats put the game away with two runs in the seventh on RBI singles by Wishkoski and Chadwick and six runs in the eighth highlighted by a two-run single by Chadwick and RBI single by Janek to eliminate ACU.
Sam Houston jumped on Grand Canyon as well when Janek hit an RBI double in the first, and Jefferson laced a two-run single to left. The flood gates opened after that.
Chadwick got a nine-run second inning going with a two-run single, and Janek continued is scorching day at the plate by driving in three of his 11 RBI on the day with a three-run bomb to left center.
Carlos Contreras added an RBI single, Tatom hit the first of his two triples in the game to bring in two more runs and
Joe Redfield pushed the lead to 12-0 with a run-scoring single through the right side.
The Antelopes answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame, but Sam Houston kept pouring it on in the third. Janek ripped an RBI double,
Easton Loyd drove in a run with a single and Tatom tagged his second triple for two more runs to make it 16-2.
The Bearkats finally put GCU out of its misery with six runs in the eighth to put the run rule into effect and eliminate the regular season champions. Tatom and Wishkoski had RBI singles, Janek plated two with another double and Loyd added another insurance run with an RBI double.
Logan Hewitt went six innings, allowing only four earned runs to pick up the win to improve to 4-1.
Miles Hellums tossed two shutout innings to finish it as both pitchers gave the bullpen some much-needed rest following the doubleheader.
