HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston Bearkats picked up a rain-soaked, 13-1 win in run-rule fashion over Middle Tennessee on Saturday afternoon at Don Sanders Stadium, clinching the weekend series over the Blue Raiders.
Lefty starter Michael Watson continued his hot streak on the mound with his third straight win, moving to 4-1 on the year with a brilliant outing which included having to work around a 10-minute weather delay midway through the game.
The reigning Conference USA Pitcher of the Week, Watson struck out nine and walked just one while allowing only one run on 90 pitches in 6.1 innings of work. Freshman Ryan Peterson came on to get the final five outs of the game, a contest finished early when the Kats (23-16, 6-8 CUSA) scored five times in the bottom of the eighth.
Malachi Lott, Jeffrey David and Caleb Cotton all had three hits apiece in the win with Cotton's 3-run double with two outs in the eighth being the clinching swing. It was the fifth double of the day for Sam Houston, part of 15 total hits.
Lott finished with four runs scored on the day and a pair of RBI, while David and Jace Martinez had two RBI apiece as well.
Sam Houston did much of its work early on, scoring seven times off of MTSU (13-25, 4-10 CUSA) freshman starter Chandler Alderman before reliever Justin Lee held down the fort for 5.2 solid innings of relief. Alderman took the loss, falling to 2-3 on the year.
Watson struck out the side in each of the first two innings and the Kats rewarded him with seven runs in those frames to quickly open up the game before the skies opened up with rain.
RBI singles by Malachi Lott and Jeffrey David plated runs in the first inning and Jake Tatom made it a 3-0 Bearkat advantage with an RBI single early in the second inning. Jace Martinez then got involved with a 2-run single, his second hit of the game, to up the lead to 4-0 and Jeffrey David followed by doubling into the left-field corner for another run.
The lead was upped to 8-0 in the fourth on an RBI grounder by Easton Loyd in the fourth and then the rain came down even harder, forcing a 10-minute stoppage of play in the middle of the fifth. The teams quickly responded and returned to play and the Blue Raiders were finally able to get on the board with an RBI double with two outs in the seventh.
But MTSU had to go back to the bullpen in the eighth and the Bearkats took full advantage, drawing four walks in the frame and scoring the first two runs on a single by Lott and a walk to Brady Christensen. Cotton then delivered a bases-clearing double plate three runs and envoke the run-rule.
UP NEXT
The Kats and Blue Raiders will close the weekend with one final game on Sunday at Don Sanders Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and can be heard on the Bearkat Sports Network with Carlos Zimmermann on the call.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Michael Watson has been outstanding in his last three starts, going 3-0 with only two runs allowed in 18.2 innings of work. He has punched out 26 hitters with only three walks issued and eight hits allowed in that span.
- The Bearkats have a chance to secure their first sweep as a member of Conference USA in Sunday's series finale vs Middle Tennessee.
