By Cheval John

Sam Houston State took the series from Dallas Baptist with a 4-2 win in the rubber match at Don Sanders Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.

The Bearkats got some solid pitching and timely hitting when it mattered the most.

Freshman Seth Holbert pitched two shut out innings in relief and got his first win of the season.

Closer Jason Simms got his second save of the season.

Simms made it interesting in the final two innings.

With the Bearkats (7-1) leading 4-1going in the top of the eighth, Dallas Baptist was trying to make something happen.

Trevin Sonnier led off the inning with a single.

Though Simms got the next two outs, the bases was loaded after he walked Austin Listi, who went 1 for 3 and Daniel Salters, who was 1 for 2, followed with a single.

But Simms got in the zone and struck out R.J. Alexander to end the threat.

It got even more interesting in the top of the ninth.

After getting the first two outs, David Martinelli issued a walk and stole second while Sonnier reached on a error to bring the tying run to the plate.

The bases was loaded after pinch hitter Drew Turbin was hit by a pitch.

However, Simms got Wesolowski to ground into a fielder choice play to end the game.

With a scoreless tie, Dallas Baptist (5-2) got on the board in the top of the fifth for a 1-0 lead on a squeeze play that allowed Justin Wall to score from third.

Wall led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a ground out by Martinelli, and advanced to third on a wild pitch by Dirk Masters, who went five innings and got the no-decision.

Sam Houston quickly tied it up at 1 in the bottom of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Colt Atwood.

Toups, who was 2 for 2, led off the inning with a double that went over the head of center fielder Salters.

The bases was loaded courtesy of back-to-back walks to Luke Plucheck and Ryan Farney with one out.

The Bearkats took the lead at 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a two out, bases loaded walk issued by Plucheck.

Sam Houston was looking for some cushion in the bottom of the seventh inning and got it when Carter Burgess hit a two run single to extend the lead to 4-1.

After Atwood reached on an error and O’Hearn singled, Azar’s sacrifice bunt move both runners to second and third, respectively.

Dallas Baptist elected to walk Simerly intentionally to load the bases and try to get a double play ball from Burgess.

The Bearkats are aiming to carry the momentum this week when they travel to Houston to face Rice at Reckling Park and then participate in the Houston College Classic this weekend at Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros.

By Cheval John

Courtesy of the Longhorn Network

Sam Houston State has a chance to take the series today at 1 p.m. after defeating Dallas Baptist 12-2 last night at Don Sanders Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.

The Bearkats (5-1) was clicking on offense with timely hits.

Luke Plucheck, went 3 for 3 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Hayden Simerly also was 3 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored.

Ryan Farney, was 1 for 1 with three RBIs, a run scored and a walk.

Sam Houston got quality pitching from starter Andrew Godail.

Godail got his second win of the season after going five innings and giving up a run on three hits and three strike outs.

Sam Odom pitched four innings in relief and recorded his first save of the season.

Dallas Baptist are now 5-1 after suffering their first loss of the season.

The Patriots couldn’t replicate their offense from the day before as they left 10 men on base

It seemed as if it was going to be deja vu for the Bearkats again when they had a Sam Houston an opportunity to break the scoreless tie in the second inning.

Ryan O’Hearn issued a walk with one out in the bottom of the first.

With two outs, Simerly issued with a walk to make it first and second.

Carter Burgess followed with a walk to load the bases.

However, they couldn’t capitalize as Drew Smith got Corey Toups to fly out to end the inning.

Dallas Baptist took advantage of their opportunity in the top of the second when Camden Duzenack hit a bloop RBI single that landed just inside the fair line to make it 1-0.

Trevin Sonnier hit a two out infield single, advanced to second on a pass ball and scored from second on Duzenack’s single.

Finally, Sam Houston were able to capitalized with four runs in the bottom of the third inning for a 4-1.

Plucheck started the party with a one out double to left field. Farney followed with a walk.

Then, O’Hearn issued a walk to load the bases.

A wild pitch allowed Farney to score the second run.

Anthony Azar’s sacrifice fly drove in the third run.

Then, Simerly’s RBI single drove in the fourth run.

Dallas Baptist pulled within a 4-2 lead courtesy of Austin Listi’s solo moon shot to left field.

Sam Houston exploded for three runs in the bottom of the third for a 7-2 lead.

A sacrifice bunt by Farney allowed Toups, who led off with a single and advanced to third on Plucheck’s single, scored the fifth run.

It seemed as if the Patriots would have gotten out of the third inning after Colt Atwood hit a routine ground ball to second.

However, Duzenack bobbled the ball and Atwood reached first to keep the inning alive.

That allowed O’Hearn to hit a two-run, double to extend it to 7-2.

Sam Houston added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it 9-2 on RBI singles by Toups and Plucheck.

The Bearkats increased their lead to 11-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning on a two-run single by Farney.

Sam Houston added one more for good measure in the bottom of the seventh inning to make it 12-2.

By Cheval John

Sam Houston State and Dallas Baptist came into this matchup undefeated.

It was only a matter of time before one of these teams etched their first loss of the season.

That time came for the Bearkats as they suffered a 5-1 loss to Dallas Baptist at Don Sanders Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.

The Patriots (5-0) got a quality outing from Paul Voelker.

Voelker went seven innings, giving up a run on 9 hits and struck out 6 batters.

He silenced the Bearkat offense, who came into the matchup outscoring opponents 43-11 in their first five games, to only one run.

“I thought they really pitched and played defense better than us tonight,” Bearkat coach David Pierce said. “They won the 90 foot game today.”

The Patriots offense were in the zone.

Mike Wesolowski went 2 for 3 with an RBI while K.J. Alexander was 3 for 4 with an RBI.

Dallas Baptist had runners on first and second with no outs in the top of the second due to back to back singles by Alexander and Knight.

Tyler Eppler, who went 4 1/3 innings and suffered the loss, got the first two outs courtesy of a fly out by Wall and a force out at second base.

Courtesy of the Bearkats Sports Network

He wasn’t out of the woods yet as he walked Camden Duzenack to load the bases.

But he settled down and got R.J. Talamantes to ground out to end the threat.

Sam Houston State (5-1) had their chance to capitalized in the bottom of the second inning.

Ryan O’Hearn led off with a single and advanced to second on a infield bunt single by Corey Toups.

Both runners advanced to second and third, respectively on a ground out by Dirk Masters.

With two outs, Ryan Farney issued a walk to load the bases.

However, the Bearkats came up short as Luke Plucheck struck out to end the inning.

The Patriots capitalized on their opportunity with two runs in the top of the third for a 2-0 lead courtesy on a RBI ground out by Daniel Salters and an RBI single by Alexander.

Wesolowski led off the top of the third with a double. Austin Listi followed with a walk.

Both runners advanced to second and third, respectively on a wild pitch by Eppler.

Wesolowski’s RBI single in the top of the fourth increased the lead to 3-0 and Trevin Connier’s RBI single in the top of the fifth made it 4-0.

Hayden Simerly’s RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning cut the lead to 4-1.

However, Dallas Baptist added another run in the top of the seventh inning for a 5-1 lead.

The play of the game came in the top of the eighth.

With one out and a runner on second, Wesoloski hit a drive to left field and Plucheck leaped at the wall, robbed him of a home run and threw out Talamantes at first for the double play.

The Bearkats tried to mount a rally in the bottom of the ninth inning when Shea Pierce issued a walk with one out and Farney followed with a single that advanced Wyatt Powell, who pinched ran for Pierce, to second.

But Sam Houston couldn’t make it happen as reliever Brandon Koch got Plucheck to fly out for the second out.

Then with Simerly on deck as the potential tying run, Koch struck out Colt Atwood to end the game.

The Bearkats left 10 runners on base.

“We chipped away one base runner at a time,” Farney said. “We were close to get him (Hayden Simerly) up there and see what he can do. It didn’t work out.”

Sam Houston looks to tie the series later today at 4 p.m.

By Cheval John

Sam Houston State head coach David Pierce couldn’t ask for a better way to start the season after his squad swept Northern Colorado with a 7-1 victory at Don Sanders Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.

This makes it the first time that the Bearkats started the season at 4-0 under coach Pierce.

Sam Houston got a quality start from red shirt freshman pitcher Sam Odom.

Odom went six strong innings, giving up only a run on 6 hits and got the victory.

The Bearkats got solid pitching from the bullpen as freshman reliever Seth Holbert went two innings while Jordan Church pitched the ninth inning to seal the victory.

Northern Colorado (0-4) could not take advantage of opportunities when it counted as they left 39 men on base for the series.

Eight men were left on in today’s matchup.

The Bears had gotten a hit in each of the first three innings.

One of those innings (second), they had a player in scoring position.

But the stout pitching by Odom was able to neutralized the offense of Northern Colorado that kept them off the scoreboard.

On the other hand, the Bearkats were able to take advantage of their opportunities at the right time.

Hayden Simerly went seven for fifteen with 5 RBIs in the series.

Carter Burgess had a good day with a two for four performance and two RBIs.

Ryan Farney went three for three with an RBI and two runs scored.

Sam Houston struck first in the bottom of the second inning for a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly by Jake MacWilliam.

Burgess singled with one out in the bottom of the second.

He advanced to second on a balk by starting pitcher Nick Miller, to third on a pass ball and scored on the sacrifice fly.

Finally, the Bears were able to capitalized on their opportunity in the top of the fifth inning when Ryan Yamane hit a two out single that scored Nick Tanner to notch it up at 1.

Tanner hit a one-out single in the top of the fifth and advanced to second on a error by Odom after he tried to pick him off at first.

The Bearkats retook the lead at 2-1 on an infield RBI single by Atwood.
Farney started the rally with a two out single. Plucheck followed with a walk.

Both runners stole second and third, respectively, that put both of them in scoring position.

The Bears had an opportunity to tie the game when Miller hit a one out single and stole second base.

But Northern Colorado couldn’t capitalized as Odom got Ben Vaughn, who went 0-3, and Cody Harrison, who went 2 for 4 to ground out to end the threat.

That allowed the Bearkats to explode for five runs in the bottom of the 6th inning for a 7-1 lead courtesy of a two-run double by pinch hitter, Ryan O’Hearn, an RBI double by Shea Pierce, a RBI single by Farney and a RBI single by Atwood.

The Bearkats aim to keep their win streak alive when they go to Lake Charles and face fellow Southland Conference member, McNeese State tomorrow in a non-conference matchup at 6 p.m.

The Cowboys are currently 3-0 for the season after winning the Lake Area Classic with victories over Southeastern Conference (SEC) member Missouri, Conference USA member Southern Mississippi and Chicago State.