LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Sam Houston Bearkats fell behind early and the Liberty Flames clinched their second straight Conference USA series with a 10-5 win on Friday afternoon at Worthington Field.
Liberty (12-14, 4-1 CUSA) got a grand slam from Todd Hudson in the first inning and scored three more times in the third and twice in the fourth to build a 7-run lead which was plenty for the Flames' (12-14, 4-1 CUSA) Friday night starter, Cole Hertzler, to work with.
Hertzler lasted 6.0 innings before exiting in line for his third win of the year, finishing with a season-high nine strikeouts. Gavi Coldiron took the loss for Sam Houston (17-11, 3-5 CUSA) to fall to 2-2 on the year, while Miles Hellums allowed two runs in the fourth before putting up three straight zeros to give the Kats' a chance to claw back. Hellums finished with 5.1 innings of strong relief with a pair of strikeouts, including a stretch of retiring 12 of 13 batters.
At the plate Walker Janek and Easton Loyd each had a pair of hits, but ultimately the Kats stranded eight on the bases compared to just three stranded runners for the homestanding Flames. The Flames finished the game 5-for-6 with runners in scoring position, compared to just 3-for-11 fro Sam Houston.
Despite the early grand slam from Hudson, the Bearkat offense was unphased and began its uphill climb by sneaking a run home in the second on a double steal and cutting the lead to 4-2 an inning later on an RBI grounder by Caleb Cotton to cash in on a leadoff double by Jace Martinez.
However, similar to Thursday's series opener, the 2-out bug bit the Bearkats again in the bottom of the third when Liberty got consecutive 2-out, run-scoring doubles by Cam Foster and Camden Troyer to score three more times and up the lead to 7-2.
Two more runs came across in the fourth as the lead grew to 9-2, and the Kats responded with RBI hits from Malachi Lott and Easton Loyd in the fifth and the sixth but Hertzler was able to strand a pair of runners on base each inning to prevent a crooked number from going on the board.
Jake Tatom added an RBI single in the seventh, the third straight scoring inning for Sam Houston; however, that was as close as the Kats would get
UP NEXT
The Kats and Flames will finish off its series on Saturday at Worthington Field. First pitch for the finale is set for 11:00 a.m. CT with the game to be streamed on ESPN+.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Walker Janek also threw each of Liberty's attempted base stealer of the day for Liberty and has now thrown out nine of 16 attempted swipers on the year. Bearkat opponents do not have a stolen a base with Janek behind the plate since March 5 at Houston, a span of 15 games.
- Janek finished the day 2-for-4 with a double. The effort marked the 50th multi-hit game of his collegiate career.
