Baseball | 4/23/2016 10:46:00 PM
Box Score HUNTSVILLE – For the second straight night, a late rally by Sam Houston State lifted the Bearkats to a narrow win over the ACU Wildcats in Southland Conference baseball action at Don Sanders Stadium.
Friday night the Bearkats scored in the sixth and seventh innings to pull away for a 6-3 win. Saturday afternoon they scored single runs in the seventh and eighth innings to turn a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 win over the young Wildcats who started five freshman position players in Saturday's game.
The two late runs made a hard-luck loser out of senior lefthander
Aaron Mason, who posted his third straight solid outing, allowing just two runs, five hits and two walks over seven innings while striking out a pair of Bearkats. Mason (5-3 on the season) allowed a first-inning run to snap his scoreless innings streak at 17 2/3 innings of work.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first, the Wildcats got the run back in the top of the fourth by manufacturing a run. Freshman outfielder
Derek Scott reached base on an error by pitcher Heath Donica and went to second when
Alex Copeland grounded out to Donica. Scott then stole third and scored on a throwing error by Sam Houston State catcher Jordan Cannon, tying the game at 1-1.
The game stayed right there until the bottom of the seventh when Taylor Beene drove Mason's second pitch of the inning over the wall in left field for a solo home run and a 2-1 Sam Houston State lead. The Bearkats added an insurance run in the eighth when relief pitcher
Brandon Lambright gave up a leadoff double to Lance Miles, who went to third on a fly ball out and scored on a balk to make it a 3-1 final.
The Wildcats (13-23 overall and 5-12 in the Southland) and Bearkats (24-16 and 16-4) will wrap up the three-game set Sunday at 1 p.m.
