HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston Bearkats won their third game in a row and evened up the Don Sanders Cup series with an 8-5 win over Houston on Tuesday night at Don Sanders Stadium.
Walker Janek hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the second inning to snap a 2-2 tie and Houston (16-16) never drew even again, despite out-hitting the Kats (20-13) by a 10-9 margin.
Janek finished 3-for-5 for the game with three runs scored and a pair of RBI, while Jeffrey David drove in three with a double and a triple. Former Cougar Malachi Lott finished with a pair of RBI as well, also picking up an RBI triple in the 3-run fourth.
Gavi Coldiron was solid on the starting bump, earning his third win of the season after logging 5.0 innings with three strikeouts and only three runs allowed. Wyatt Tucker then tossed the sixth before Logan Hewitt struck out four of the seven Houston hitters he faced before giving the ball to Chandler David who tossed a perfect ninth for his fifth save of the year.
Houston, meanwhile, used six pitchers with each of the first five allowing runs to the Bearkat offense. Chris Stuart got the start, but allowed three runs in 1.1 innings to fall to 2-3 on the season.
The Cougars had an early 1-0 lead on Anthony Tulimero's first home run of the season in the first inning; however, the Kats used a double steal in the first inning to knot it up before David split the right-center field gap for an RBI double to make it a 2-1 lead.
Houston tied it up in the top of the second, but Janek then took things into his own hands when he blasted a 2-1 pitch from Paul Schmitz out to left field for a 2-run homer – his ninth of the year – to put Sam Houston ahead for good at 4-2.
The Kats got three more on a 2-run triple by David in the fourth and he came home to score one batter later when Lott tripled to left field. Lott picked up another RBI in the sixth on a sacrifice fly ,which brought Janek across the plate for the third time in the game.
UP NEXT
The Kats will now jump back into Conference USA play when it hosts WKU for three games, beginning Friday at The Don. Each of the first two games of the series are slated to be aired on ESPN+.
POSTGAME NOTES
- The Kats are now 6-0 this season in midweek games played on their home turf.
- With two more triples, the Bearkat offense has now registered seven triples over its last three games.
- Walker Janek's home run marked the third straight game in which he has gone deep, which is one game shy of his season high from earlier this year when he homered in four straight. It was also his 29th career dinger, which ties him with Bryan McDonald for fourth all-time at Sam Houston.
- The win puts the Kats in position to claim its first Don Sanders Cup since 2018, which they can do with a win over the Cougars when the teams compete on May 14 at Constellation Field in Sugar Land.
