Long Ball, Strong Pitching Led To Bearkat Sweep Over Lions

By Cheval John

With the series in hand, Sam Houston State wanted to sweep Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday at Don Sanders Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.

The Bearkats did just that with a 4-1 win over the Lions.

Sam Houston is now tied for third place in the Southland Conference (SLC) with a 13-8 record (30-14 overall) with 11 games left in the regular season.

Bearkat starter Sam Odom went 8 innings, giving up only a run on four hits, striking out four batters, and didn’t issue a walk.

The Bearkats got all of their runs from two home runs in the game.

Designated hitter Hayden Simerly, who went 2 for 4, launched a two run shot in the bottom of the third while catcher Anthony Azar, went deep with a two run bomb of his own in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Southeastern Louisiana (12-9 SLC play, 27-17 overall) struck first in the top of the first inning for a 1-0 lead courtesy of a sacrifice fly by right fielder, Andrew Godbold.

Sam Houston responded in the bottom of the third inning with two runs to make it 2-1.

Bearkat right fielder Travis Lee reached first on a fielder’s choice that got left fielder Luke Plucheck , who led off the inning with a walk, out at second.

A batter later, with two outs, Simerly launched a two run shot over the right field wall.

That was all Odom needed as he retired 12 out of 13 batters in the next three innings.

The Bearkats rewarded Odom in the bottom of the seventh inning after Azar hit a two-run moonshot over the left field wall to extend the lead to 4-1.

Ryan Brinley pitched the 9th inning in relief, got the necessary outs to secure the sweep and get his fifth save of the season.

Sam Houston aims to keep the momentum going on Tuesday as they travel to Waco to face Baylor in a non-conference matchup before hosting their arch-rivals, Stephen F. Austin in a weekend series.