Kats power way to series win

Sunday, February 15

Lake Charles, La.

1:00 PM

2-1

McNeese

1-2

Sam Houston

McNeese

Photo by: Grant Sides

Kats power way to series win

2/15/2026 5:37:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

LAKE CHARLES, La. - Sam Houston crushed four home runs and led nearly wire-to-wire for an 8-5 win to clinch a season-opening weekend series at McNeese on Sunday afternoon at Joe Miller Ballpark.

Ryan Franden homered twice to lead a Bearkat (2-1) offense that saw five of its seven hits go for extra bases, while freshman Collin Aloisio shined on the mound and earned the win in his first collegiate start with five strikeouts and two runs allowed in 5.0 frames.

The first big blow of the day came from the other half of the Kats all-freshman battery, catcher Wes Baker, in his first collegiate at-bat. The Cowboys (1-2) had taken an early 1-0 lead with a run in the first, but Baker touched up McNeese starter Myles Meyer for a no-doubt, 2-run blast to right-center field in the top of the second and the Kats never gave the lead back.

Cade Corcoran joined Franden with a pair of hits, including a solo blast to open the eighth and give SHSU its first 4-homer game since doing so at FIU late in the 2024 season.

Bearkat pitching gave up a dozen hits on the day, but issued just two free passes with nine total strikeouts while the defense committed just one miscue.

Aloisio threw 94 pitches to navigate his five frames, getting two of his five punchouts in the his final frame, including striking out Larry Edwards Jr. with the bases loaded in the fifth when the game was still at a 5-1 margin.

Noah Kendrick, Jonathan Anders and Kade Neuenschwander followed with 1.1 relief innings apiece.

UP NEXT
The Bearkats will next hit the road for their first midweek clash of the year, meeting up with HCU at Husky Field in Houston on Tuesday night. The game is scheduled to be aired on ESPN+