1-1
McNeese
1-1
Kats blast Cowboys to even weekend
2/14/2026 7:27:00 PM | Baseball
LAKE CHARLES, La. -Â A night after dropping a heartbreaker on Opening Night, the Sam Houston Bearkats left no doubt on Saturday in an 11-2 win over McNeese at Joe Miller Ballpark to even the weekend series.Â
Ryan Franden and Nathan Fink each homered and the Bearkats (1-1) had three multi-run innings, punishing what was left of the Cowboy (1-1) pitching staff to the tune of 15 total hits, 11 walks and five stolen bases. Â
That effort was backed up on the mound by newcomer Tyler Ryden who picked up the win with 5.0 strong innings of work, allowing just one run with a pair of strikeouts. The sophomore retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced before allowing a run in the fifth, but ended the lone McNeese threat with a strikeout of Simon Larranaga to keep it at 5-1 ballgame at the time. Â
Freshman Mason Murphy followed and punched out six McNeese hitters over 2.2 innings before being lifted in the eighth after 65 pitches. Senior Zak Johnson finished it out, striking out a pair in 1.1 innings of relief. Â
Franden turned in his second straight 3-RBI game, highlighted by a 2-run homer in the sixth. Jeric Curtis also added a pair of hits and two RBI, along with tallying three of the Kats' five stolen bases in the game. Ty Marthiljohni also reached in all five of his plate appearances, going 3-for-3 and ending his day with a 2-run single to cap the Kats' scoring in the eighth. Â
Sam Houston opened it up early with a run in the first and three more in the second against McNeese starter Connor Achee, who took the loss. Curtis and Jace Martinez each had 2-out RBI singles in the inning and the Kats got another on the board when Fink opened the fifth with a solo blast to left-center.Â
Franden made it a 7-1 game with his shot in the sixth and the Kats put it away with two more runs in the seventh and Marthiljohni's single in the eighth.Â
UP NEXTÂ
The Bearkats will go for the series win on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m. The game is set to be aired on ESPN+
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ryden, Tyler (1-0)
L: Connor Achee (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Alvord, Hunter 1
HR: Franden, Ryan 1 ; Fink, Nathan 1
RBI: Franden, Ryan 3 ; Fink, Nathan 1 ; Curtis, Jeric 2 ; Martinez, Jace 1 ; Brown, Blake 1 ; Marthiljohni, Ty 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Alvord, Hunter 2 ; Franden, Ryan 1 ; Bazmore, Sean 1 ; Fink, Nathan 2 ; Blackman, Parker 1 ; Corcoran, Cade 1 ; Curtis, Jeric 1 ; Martinez, Jace 1 ; Marthiljohni, Ty 1
SB: Alvord, Hunter 1 ; Curtis, Jeric 3 ; Brown, Blake 1
Batting:
2B: Gage Trahan 1 ; Easton Dowell 1
RBI: Bryce Fontenot 1 ; Easton Dowell 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gage Trahan 1 ; Hayden Stringfellow 1
HBP: Danny Barbero 1 ; Hayden Stringfellow 1 ; Connor Schneider 1
