HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston Bearkats picked up a pair of one-run wins to close out a sweep of Tarleton on Saturday at Don Sanders Stadium.
The Kats (27-21) have now won swept each of their last two weekend series at home and are 20-7 at home in 2024.
GAME 1
Sam Houston 3, Tarleton 2
Michael Watson was the star of the show in the opener of the twinbill, no-hitting the Texans through the first six innings and ultimately finishing with a career-high 11 strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work to move to 5-1 on the year.
Jeffrey David and Easton Loyd had two hits apiece, with Jake Tatom's first home run of the year coming in the bottom of the sixth and proving to be the winning run.
The Kats out-hit the Texans 9-2 for the game, but after Tarleton used a bunt single to break up the no-hitter in the seventh the Texans managed to scratch across two runs to make the game tight. Malachi Lott came in to throw up a zero in the eighth, but a leadoff walk in the ninth forced the Kats to go to Wyatt Tucker out of the pen. The righty did what he needed to do and left the tying run stranded on third base to secure his fourth save of the year.
GAME 2
Sam Houston 2, Tarleton 1 (10 innings)
Malachi Lott hit a pinch-hit, walk-off double in the bottom of the 10th to give the Bearkats their third win of the weekend.
Sam Houston gave up a run in the first, but the pitching staff did not allow the Texans across the plate the rest of the night with Chandler David getting his second win of the weekend and fourth of the season with 2.0 shutout innings of relief.
The Kats out-hit Tarleton 7-6, but did not have an extra-base hit until Lott's game-winner. Hunter Autrey and Blake Brown had two hits apiece and Jeffrey David had the Kats' other RBI with a game-tying sacrifice fly in the third.
UP NEXT
The Kats will not have a midweek game in the upcoming week as they take final exams on campus. They will then jump back into Conference USA play with a 3-game series at FIU, beginning Friday in Miami. All three games at FIU will be aired on ESPN+.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Jeffrey David hit successfully in both games, extending his hit streak to 19 games in a row.
- Michael Watson's 11 strikeouts in Game 1 was the most by a Bearkat pitcher since Tyler Davis had 11 vs Northwestern State in 2021.
- Walker Janek threw each of Tarleton's two attempted base stealers of the game and has now thrown out 14 of 26 attempted swipers this season.
- Sam Houston now owns a 14-2 all-time record against Tarleton, including 9-0 at The Don.
