HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston Bearkats made quick work of Jax State twice on Friday, run-ruling the Gamecocks in consecutive contests of a doubleheader at Don Sanders Stadium. 

The Kats (32-22, 12-11 CUSA) picked up a 12-2 win in eight innings in the opening game of the day, followed by an 11-1 win in seven innings in the nightcap. The effort, along with two losses by Liberty to Louisiana Tech earlier in the day in Lynchburg, locked in the No. 4 seed of next week's Conference USA Tournament.  
 
The losses by the Gamecocks (18-33, 5-18 CUSA) put an end to their hopes of a berth in Ruston next week as they were eliminated from tournament contention. 

The top of the lineup was key for Kats' success as Caleb Cotton went 5-for-7 with five runs scored in the two games from the leadoff spot, while Walker Janek went 4-for-5 with three walks, two doubles, a triple and six RBI.  

Even with the offense, the pitching still shined as Sam Houston used just two pitchers in each game. Starters Coltin Atkinson and Michael Watson each turned in efficient 5.0-inning outings before Miles Hellums and Wyatt Tucker each earned multi-inning saves.  
 
GAME 1 
Sam Houston 10, Jax State 2 (8 innings) 
The Bearkats scored five times in the second inning and were up 10-0 through five frames, cruising to a 12-2 win in the opener behind strong pitching performances from Atkinson and Hellums. 

Atkinson needed just 52 pitches to navigate through 5.0 shutout innings, punching out a pair of Gamecocks and allowing just one hit to run his record to 6-4 in his final career start at Don Sanders Stadium. 

At the plate, Janek reached base all five times with a pair of 2-run doubles, two walks and a hit-by-pitch. He was one of six Bearkats with at least two hits, including a 3-for-4 game from Jake Tatom. Jeffrey David and Jace Martinez each drove in two apiece. 

RBI singles from Blake Brown and Martinez opened the scoring in the second and Janek capped it with his first 2-bagger of the day. Two innings later a JSU balk brought home another, followed by a 2-run single from David. Janek made it a 10-0 game with another 2-run double in the fifth, which had the Kats in run-rule territory before JSU's Bear Madliak extended things with a 2-run double of his own in the top of the sixth off the wall in straightaway center field.  
 
Hellums then threw up zeros in both the seventh and eighth innings and it looked as though the game would go the distance until JSU left fielder Drew Collins dropped a routine fly ball off the bat of Brady Christensen for what would have been the final out of the eighth, allowing the clinching two runs to score. 

GAME 2 
Sam Houston 11, Jax State 1 (7 innings)
The Kats once again used a big inning, this time a 7-run sixth, to pick up another run-rule victory in the day's finale.  
 
Watson got the start and logged 5.0 innings on exactly 80 pitches, striking out nine in the process. He allowed just one run on a solo homer to Hudson Walburn in the fourth before handing it over to Tucker who earned his fifth save of the year with three punchouts in 2.0 innings. 

Tucker entered in a save situation as it was just a 4-1 game entering the sixth with the Kats' runs coming on a two RBI from Janek, a run-scoring grounder from Hunter Autrey and a solo blast from Malachi Lott. But a 2-run double from Autrey got the Kats back on the board again in the sixth against JSU starter Jackson Sleeper and Jeffrey David followed later in the inning with a 3-run blast to make it 9-1. 

Easton Loyd later made it 10-1 with an RBI double and a Gamecock fielding error allowed the Kats to get into run-rule territory with the 11th run of the game coming across.  

JSU tried to extend it by loading the bases with two outs in the seventh before Tucker fanned Brennen Norton to end it 
 
UP NEXT 
The Kats will close out the 2024 regular season on Saturday when it hosts Jax State in the series finale beginning at 1:00 p.m. at Don Sanders Stadium. The game can be heard on the Bearkat Sports Network. 
 
The game will serve as Senior Day for the Bearkats' class of 13 seniors, who will all be honored prior to the start of the game. 
 
POSTGAME NOTES 
- Friday's results locked in the Kats' placement in next week's CUSA Tournament as they will enter as the No. 4 seed, battling No. 5 Liberty in the game's opening round on Wednesday. The other half of the bracket will consist of No. 1 seed and host Louisiana Tech and No. 8 Middle Tennessee. 
 
- Jeffrey David had hits in each game, extending his hit streak to 25 games. That streak is the longest of the season by a Bearkat and the third longest in a single season by a Bearkat in program history. With one more hit he would tie Chris Andreas' 26-gamer in 2010 as the second longest in a single season, while Terry Pirtle's 34-game hit streak in 1987 stands as the program record. 
 
- Walker Janek drove in six runs in the two games and now has 57 runs driven in this season and 155 for his career. He is the first Kat to reach 150 career RBI since Nick Zaleski in 2009 and with three more RBI he would become the first Bearkat in program history to record 60 or more RBI in consecutive seasons. 
 
- The Bearkats combined to strike out 18 hitters in 15.0 innings of work in two games on Saturday. Michael Watson's nine strikeouts gives him a team-best 84 punchouts for the year, which is the most by a Kat since Hayden Wesneski's 110 strikeouts in the 2019 season.