Oller’s Pitching Dominance Led To Demons’ Win Over Sam Houston

By Cheval John

A two hour weather delay was the least of the worries for Sam Houston State at Don Sanders Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.

Errors and a dominating pitching performance by freshman Adam Oller is what led to the 12-1 defeat to Northwestern State.

Oller, who went the distance, struck out five batters.

Sam Houston (18-9 overall, 3-4 Southland Conference play) couldn’t carry their momentum into this matchup after winning two mid-week games that included a 8-1 victory over No.22 Texas A&M.

Northwestern State (13-11 overall, 5-2 SLC play) struck first in the top of the first inning for a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Caleb Dugas.

Second baseman Edwin Gomez led off the game with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by shortstop Joel Atkinson.

He advanced to third on a wild pitch by Bearkat starting pitcher Tyler Eppler and scored on the sacrifice fly.

The Demons tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth inning to increase the lead to 3-0.

Dugas, who issued a walk with one out and advanced to third on a single by left fielder Cort Brinson, scored the second run in the top of the inning for a 2-0 lead on a error by Eppler when he tried to pick off Brinson, but threw the ball into the dirt that skipped over the glove of first baseman Ryan O’Hearn.

Brinson advanced to second on the throw and scored the third run on a RBI single by third baseman Chase Daughdrill.

Sam Houston had something going in the bottom of the seventh inning when catcher Anthony Azar reached first after being hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.

A batter later, third baseman Carter Burgess hit a double that moved Azar to third.

However, they couldn’t capitalized as Oller struck out designated hitter Dirk Masters and got second baseman Shea Pierce to fly out to end the threat.

The Demons exploded for nine more runs in the top of the ninth inning to increase the lead to 12-0.

After Northwestern State scored the fourth run and the bases was loaded, reliever Seth Holbert struck out two batters.

It seemed as if the Bearkats were going to get out of the inning when a Demon player hit a liner to second.

However, Pierce dropped the ball that allowed Northwestern State to scored two more runs for a 6-0 lead..

The Demons increased the floodgates as they tacked on six more runs to increased the lead to 12-0.

Sam Houston got on the board in the bottom of the ninth for a 12-1 score on a solo home run by Hunter Courson, who replaced Azar in the top of the ninth inning.

But the damage was done as the Demons got the necessary outs to secure the win.