ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Sam Houston Bearkats had everything working on Sunday, closing out the weekend with a 14-3 win over New Mexico at Santa Ana Star Field.
The Kats (19-13) won a slugfest on Friday before Saturday's game was cancelled due to extreme winds in the area; however, Sunday was surrounded by ideal conditions and Sam Houston took full advantage.
Walker Janek and Hunter Autrey had four hits apiece, while Jake Tatom and Easton Loyd had three RBI each on a day that saw the Kats not only hit well, but punch out 10 Lobo hitters on the mound while only allowing a pair of walks.
Michael Watson rebounded from a rough start a week ago at Liberty to throw 5.0 innings with a season-high seven strikeouts for his second win of the year. He then gave way to the relief combo of Logan Hewitt, Marshall Wales and Malachi Lott who combined to get the final 12 outs.
On the other side, Lobo lefty Daxton Purser punched a career-best nine Bearkat hitters, but issued five walks and was touched up for seven runs in 3.2 innings to fall to 0-2 on the year.
The Kats left the sacks loaded in the first inning, but were able to break through with four runs in the top of the second. Jake Tatom and Walker Janek had RBI singles to plate the first two runs and after the Kats got another home with their work on the bases, Jeffrey David shot a run-scoring double into the left-field corner to make it 4-0.
Watson responded with a shutdown bottom half of the frame and followed it up with another zero in the third before getting three more runs from his offense, courtesy of a 3-run, 2-out triple by Easton Loyd to push the lead to 7-0.
An RBI single by Gene Trujillo got the Lobos on the board in the bottom of the fourth, but a solo homer by Janek in the top of the fifth immediately got that run back. The Kats carried that 8-1 lead into the seventh when Tatom got going again, delivering a 2-run triple to right-center field to make it a 10-1 game and two batters later swiping home plate on a heads-up play when UNM catcher Kyle Smith threw the ball back to the Lobo pitcher.
New Mexico got a pair of runs in the seventh, but the Bearkat bats were not done as Caleb Cotton delivered an RBI single in the eighth and both Autrey and Brady Christensen had RBI hits in the top of the ninth.
UP NEXT
The Kats will return home to Don Sanders Stadium for a midweek contest vs Houston on Tuesday, the second game of the 2024 Don Sanders Cup series. First pitch for the game is set for 6:30 p.m. with the game to be aired on ESPN+.
POSTGAME NOTES
- The 3-run triple by Easton Loyd was the 10th triple of his career.
- The senior also had three hits in the game for the second straight game, marking the first time in his career he has had consecutive games with three or more hits.
- The Kats had five stolen bases in the game, marking the third time this season they have had five or more in a game and the most since a 6-steal game in the series finale at NM State.
- Walker Janek also threw out New Mexico's lone attempted base stealer of the game in the third inning and has now thrown out 12 of 21 for the season.
- Michael Watson's seven strikeouts set a new season high for the lefty, surpassing his six strikeouts at Houston in his first start of the season.
