Sam Houston State Bearkat softball team’s quest for a share of the Southland Conference regular season title came to an end as Texas State Bobcats won the first game of the series by the score of 5-1.

The win gave the Bobcats (34-15, 17-2 SLC) sole possession of the crown and the #1 seed in the Southland Conference Post-season tournament that will be held in San Antonio from May 10-12.

What is more impressive is the Bearkats (26-18, 14-5 SLC) were picked to finished eighth in the SLC  before the season began.

Now they will finish the season in second place in the conference despite the loss and will be the No. 2 seed when tournament action begins.

It seemed as if it was going to be a pitching duel between Tomi Garrison and Chandler Hall as both started out strong in the first inning.

Garrison retired the side in the top of the first innings with two strike outs.

Hall followed suit and up her with three consecutive strike outs in the bottom of the first inning.

However, the second inning proved to be different as Texas State exploded for four runs that made it 4-0.

Anna Hernandez started the inning with a single and advanced to third on a error by third baseman Shelbi Tucker that allowed Chandler Hall to reach first.

Courtney Harris followed with a two-run double to left field that made it 2-0.

Shelby Carnline hit an RBI double to center field that scored Hall from second base to made it 3-0.

Their fourth run came on a sacrifice fly by Jordan Masek.

The Bobcats added a run in the top of the fifth inning when pinch runner Brittney Garcia scored from third on a double steal that made it 5-0.

The Bearkats scored their only run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Adams to cut the lead to 5-1.

Kim Damian led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third on a double by Sarah Allison.

She scored on Adams sacrifice fly.

The Bearkats couldn’t muster anything after the fourth inning as Hall worked through the final three innings to get her 20^th win of the season. She finished the game with 12 strike outs.

Garrison was tacked with the loss.

The rubber match of the series will be at 1 p.m tomorrow to end the 2012 regular season.

The No. 21 Sam Houston State Bearkat baseball team was looking for a statement win that would allowed them to get an at-large bid into the NCAA baseball tournament two months away from today.

They had that chance when they played host to No. 9 Texas A&M Aggies in front of a crowd of 2,036 at Don Sanders Staduim on Tuesday night.

Unfortunately, that would not happened as the Aggies defeated the Kats by the score of 10-0.

The Bearkats are now 31-14 for the season while the Aggies improved their record to 32-13.

Starting pitcher Michael Oros kept the Aggies hitters off balance with his change up and fastball during the first two innings with three strike outs.

However, he ran into trouble in the top of the third inning when he issued back-to-back walks to Corey Stein and Mitchell Nau. Mikey Reynolds followed with an bunt single to load the bases.

The Aggies would strike first when Scott Arthur hit a sacrifice fly to left field that allowed Troy Stein to score from third to make it 1-0.

After another Aggie walk, Oros got Tyler Naquin to ground out into a double play to end the inning and avoid further damage.

They added another run in the top of the fourth inning to increased the lead to 2-0 on a sacrifice fly by Brandon Wood.

Chance Bolcerek earlier hit a one out triple and scored on the sacrifice fly.

Oros ran into more problems in the top of the fifth inning when he gave up three straight singles that load the bases.

Then the flood gates opened up in the top of the fifth inning as the Aggies added four more runs to expand their lead to 6-0 on a pair of back-to-back-to-back bases load walks that scored three runs and a RBI single by Corey Stein.

The Aggies would score a run in the top of the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings to increase their lead to 10-0.

Starting pitcher Daniel Mengden pitched seven innings and got the win for the Aggies. The Bearkats used a total 7 pitchers with Oros suffering his first loss.

The Bearkats resume their Southland Conference action as they travel to Arlington, Texas as they face UT-Arlington in a three-game series this weekend.

A five-run, fourth inning propelled the Sam Houston State (SHSU) Bearkat baseball team to a 6-3 victory over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders and take the three game series.

The win improved their overall record to 31-12 and a Southland Conference (SLC) record to 19-5.

“The one thing that I really enjoy about this team is that they pick each other up and they understand their roles,” Bearkat head coach David Pierce said.

The Islanders (18-26, 10-14 SLC) tacked on 3 runs in the top of the third inning to take a 3-0 lead.

Santiago Ruiz scored their first run on a fielder’s choice play that made it 1-0.

Brad Porras followed with a two-run blast to left field that increased the lead to 3-0. It was only his second home run of the season.

It seemed as nothing was going the Bearkats way as starting pitcher Daniel Minor kept them at bay for the first three innings as he struck out five batters.

“I could see why he (Minor) is good,” Pierce said. “He is a four pitch guy that could really command it.

“He got great down hill angle on his fastball……he manages the running game.”

The Bearkats finally got to him in the bottom of the fourth inning and exploded for five runs to take a 5-3 lead.

Kevin Miller lined a two-run single up the middle to cut the lead to 3-2.

Two batters later, Ryan O’Hearn lined an RBI single to right field that tied the score at 3.

With the bases loaded, Ryan Farney lined a two run single to right field to give the Bearkats a 5-3 lead.

“I was really excited to have that opportunity to have the bases loaded…” Farney said. “I was ready to go and I got a pitch I liked and drove it.”

After avoiding near disaster that would have broke the game open for the Islanders in the top of the sixth and seventh innings, the Bearkats added an insurance run in the bottom of the eight inning to increase the lead to 6-3 and reliever Michael Burchett came into the ninth inning and get the final three outs to save it for the Bearkats.

Reliever Brandon Bergen pitched two innings and got his second win of the season while Minor suffered the loss for the Islanders.

The Bearkats will face Texas A&M Aggies on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. at Don Sanders Stadium on the campus of SHSU.

It appeared as if lightning was going to strike twice today as the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders were on their way to taking the series from the Sam Houston State Bearkat baseball team.

But the Bearkats had other ideas.

Left fielder Luke Plucheck scored the game-winning run from third on a balk by reliever Philip Garcia to help the Bearkats defeat the Islanders 8-7.

“They are a good team,” Plucheck said. “Their record doesn’t show what kind of team they are…nobody wants to play a last place team because they always have something to prove.”

“Coming out here and getting a great win like that, especially in the fashion that we had to do it, is huge.”

The Islanders (18-25 overall, 10-13 SLC) jumped out earlier in the game when designated hitter Jonathan Gonzales lined a 2-run shot over the left field fence to take an 2-0 lead. Left fielder Jordan Lee led off the game and reached first when he was hit by a pitch by starting pitcher Justin Jackson and scored on the home run.

The Bearkats (30-12 overall, 18-5 SLC) responded in the bottom of the first inning when third baseman Kevin Miller hit an RBI single to left field that scored center fielder Colt Atwood from second to cut the Islander lead to 2-1.

Atwood led off the inning with an infield single and reached second on a sacrifice bunt by left fielder Luke Plucheck.

The Islanders increased their lead to 3-1 in the top of the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by center fielder Stafford Brantley.

First baseman Brad Porras led off the inning with a double to left field and advanced to third on a one out single by third baseman Westin Montgomery. Montgomery stole second base to take out the double play scenario and Porras scored from third on the sacrifice fly by Brantley.

The Kats finally capitalized and exploded for three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to lead it by the score of 4-3.

First baseman Ryan O’Hearn hit an RBI single to right field that allowed Plucheck to score from third base to pull within one.

On the next play, Miller scored the tying run on a fielder’s choice and right fielder Greg Olson laid down a perfect bunt that allowed designated hitter Jake Arrington to score the go-ahead run from third.

Olson was out on the play, but was credited with the RBI.

The lead did not hold up very long when the Islanders tied the game at 4 in the top of the seventh inning on a RBI single by short stop Drew Vest.

Then came the bottom of the seventh inning when catcher Shea Pierce led off with a single and advanced to second on a error by Vest that allowed Atwood to reach first. Then Plucheck drove the ball to centerfield that went over the head of Brantley that allowed both Pierce and Atwood to score. Montgomery couldn’t handle the relay throw and Plucheck took advantage of the situation and scored on the error.

The Islanders would not go away as Jordan Lee hit a two out, two-run single that went past a diving second baseman Jesse Plumlee to pull within a 7-6 score.

In the top of the ninth inning, Eric Weiss hit a double to left field that allowed Gonzales to score from second base to tie the game at 7.

The drama unfolded in the bottom of the ninth inning when Plucheck reached first after being hit by a pitch by reliever Tanner Green. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Miller.

They intentionally walked designated hitter Jake Arrington to try to set up a potential double play to get out of the inning and take the game to extras.

However, things did not go according to plan as Garcia, who came in relieve of Green to get a possible double play, was called for the balk that allowed Plucheck to score the game-winning run from third to end the game.

“I think right now, the Islanders are playing as well as they played all year…” head coach David Pierce said. “They’ve had very tough at-bats and fought us.”

“I tip my hat to our kids for staying focus and fighting back to get the win.”

The Bearkats used three pitchers in the game with reliever Michael Burchett picking up the win while Green suffered the loss for the Islanders.

The rubber match of the series concludes tomorrow at 1 p.m.