A Weekend Not to Remember

by Cheval John

While students are either heading for home, South Padre or Mexico for Spring Break, the Sam Houston State University Bearkats’ baseball and softball teams hosted the University of Texas at Arlington and Texas State University-San Marcos, respectively this past weekend.

The Bearkats’ softball team had a three game series with Texas State with a double-header on Saturday. They were coming off a 15-7 road win against Texas Southern University on Wednesday night.

The first game did not have much offense. With a scoreless game going into the second inning, Texas State’s Jenna Emery single to start the inning and then advancing to second on a sacrifice. Macie Hair hit a line drive that went over the head of centerfielder Tayler Gray that brought home what would be the only run of the game.

It was all that starting pitcher Chandler Hall needed as she throwed a no-hitter against the Kats.

The second game got worse as Texas State scored 7 runs in the first inning with a pair of RBI singles and a 2-run homerun by Jenna Emery. In the second inning, it seemed as if the Bearkats had a chance to make a comeback when Tayler Gray blasted a 2-run homerun that hit off the scoreboard.

But in the end, it was too much as Texas State added 2 runs in the third and 2 more in the sixth that led to an 8-run rule win.

On Sunday, the men’s baseball team hosted UT-Arlington with the series being tied at 1-1. The game would be played down to the wire with missed opportunities and questionable calls.

UT-Arlington’s Ryan Walker led the game off with a walk. Then he stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch with Preston Beck driving him home on a ground out to make it 1-0. Chad Comer made it 2-0 with a solo homerun.

The Bearkats scored a run in the bottom of the inning and in the second inning, Daniel Nottebart drove the first pitch over the right field wall to tie the game at 2-2.

It would be deadlock going into the ninth inning. Before the inning began, former SHSU baseball coach John Skeeters said, (This game will be decided by mistakes and errors). The Kats retired the side and in the bottom of the inning with one out, Mark Hudson drew a walk and then advanced to third when the first baseman missed the ball as they were attempted to pick him off. Braeden Riley was intentially walked and with runners on first and third with two strikes, Kevin Miller struck out on an attempted bunt trying to drive home the winning run and in the process, Hudson was caught in a run down and was tagged out to send the game to extra innings.

UT-Arlington took advantage and scored two runs and the Bearkats came up short in the bottom of the inning and lost the game by the score of 4-2.

Both the men and women played very hard, but it was not meant for them to win. Both teams will redeem themselves because they have two great coaches that know how to motivate and drive them to succeed.

About Cheval John

Cheval John is the Founder and CEO of Vallano Media, LLC, a marketing agency which helps small to mid-sized businesses use social media correctly to build a loyal following and in the process become more profitable. Cheval is also the host of "What's The Word?" a podcast about finding out what inspires people to choose their respective careers and how social media impacted their lives and business. He is the author of two books including the Amazon Best-Seller, "8 Lessons Every Podcaster Needs To Learn." He has spoken at Social Media Week Lima in Ohio and at Social Media Day Houston 2017 about topics around live streaming and podcasting. Cheval has been featured in media outlets including Ebony Magazine, Social Media Today and Forbes. He was named a Houston Top 25 Social Media Power Influencer (2016 and 2017) and a Twitter Top 50 Influencer by Onalytica in 2018.

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