HUNTSVILLE – Brady Christensen delivered a 3-run triple with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Sam Houston Bearkats a 9-6 win over NM State on Saturday night at Don Sanders Stadium.
The win put an end to a 7-game losing streak for the Kats (8-23, 2-6 CUSA) and evened the series with the Aggies (16-15, 4-4 CUSA) with the finale set for noon on Sunday afternoon.
Although Christensen had the game-winning hit, the story of the night was Bearkat starter Ryan Peterson who worked into the eighth inning and exited with a 5-1 lead after setting a new career high with 10 strikeouts. He took a no-decision after the Aggies followed his exit by scoring five times and taking a 6-5 lead to move Peterson out of line for his second victory of the year.
Garrett Baumann ended up snagging his second victory of the year, striking out five hitters of his own. He and Peterson combined for 15 punchouts, a season-best as a team for Sam Houston in 2025.
Saul Soto was tagged with the loss after allowing three runs in just 0.1 innings of relief work.
The Kats gave up a run in top of the fourth, but responded with a 4-run bottom of the inning that included RBI from Jace Martinez and freshmen Easton Dean and Sam Lee. Lee added another RBI in the sixth to make it a 5-1 Bearkat advantage, which Peterson made hold up until NM State was able to get things moving in the top of the eighth.
All five of the Aggie runs in that inning came with two outs, including a go-ahead, 2-run double by Sheehan O'Connor, but fortunately the Kats' offense responded with a 2-out rally of its own that started with freshman Sam Lee's third hit of the night. Two batters later Blake Brown knotted the game at 6-6 with an RBI single, then after a walk to Hunter Autrey, Christensen delivered what was the Kats' only extra-base hit of the game to put Sam Houston ahead for good.
UP NEXT
The Kats will go for its first series victory of the season on Sunday with the first pitch scheduled for noon at Don Sanders Stadium. The game can be followed on Statbroadcast and heard via audio on the Bearkat Sports Network.
