HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston Bearkats did just enough to register a 4-3 win over Middle Tennessee in the opener of a three-game series on Friday night at Don Sanders Stadium.
Coltin Atkinson tied a career high with nine strikeouts and Walker Janek hit his 12th home run of the season, but it was a sacrifice fly from Hunter Autrey in the bottom of the seventh inning which proved to be the game winner for the Kats (22-16, 5-8 CUSA).
The Blue Raiders (13-24, 4-9 CUSA) had just tied the game with a run in the top of the seventh before the Bearkats answered to retake the lead. Logan Hewitt then pitched a scoreless eighth before Chandler David worked around putting the first two runners of the ninth on base to pick up his sixth save of the year.
Atkinson took a no-decision despite a start which saw him toss 6.1 innings with three runs allowed, but it was Wyatt Tucker who moved to 3-1 with the win with 0.2 innings of relief work.
MTSU starter Cole Torbett lasted just 3.1 innings before handing it over to reliever James Sells who took the loss despite allowing just one run in 3.0 innings, falling to 3-6 on the year.
Offensively, Malachi Lott had two of the Bearkats' eight hits in the game, but the four RBI came from the third of the order – two on sac flies from Jake Tatom and Autrey, and two on Janek's blast in the third inning.
MTSU touched Atkinson up for four hits in the first two innings, including a 2-run homer from Trace Phillips in the second inning to put the Blue Raiders in front 2-0. But the Bearkat starter responded after the bomb by striking out the side in the inning and went on to retire 12 of the next 14 MTSU hitters he faced.
He lasted into the seventh inning, punching out the leadoff man in the inning to tie his career high in strikeouts for a single game, but more importantly left with the lead. That lead came thanks to a 3-run third inning from the SHSU offense.
Singles by Blake Brown and Caleb Cotton set the table for the frame and Jake Tatom brought the first run home on a sacrifice fly to left field. One batter later Walker Janek blasted the first pitch he saw from MTSU starter Cole Torbett over the left-field fence for his 12th homer of the season, surging the Kats ahead 3-2.
That lead lasted until the seventh when the Blue Raiders got Atkinson out of the game after an infield single off the bat of Cale Vinson. Eston Snider then delivered an RBI triple with two outs in the inning to score Vinson from first and knot it at 3-3.
But the Kats were able to answer back, using a pair of 1-out walks and an infield single to load the bases for Autrey. The Bearkat first basement then lifted a fly ball to left field just deep enough to plate Cotton with the eventual game-winner.
Still, things got dicey in the ninth for David when he hit and walked the first two batters he faced. But he made a huge play by getting the lead runner on an attempted sac bunt and followed that play with a fly ball and a strikeout of Luke Vinson to close it out.
UP NEXT
The Kats and Blue Raiders are scheduled to play Game 2 of the 3-game series on Saturday in a game which has been moved up to a noon start at Don Sanders Stadium. The game is currently scheduled to be streamed on ESPN+.
