HOUSTON - HBU jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but were shut out over the final six innings, as Sam Houston State rallied for a 6-3 victory in the Southland Conference baseball series opener Friday afternoon at Husky Field.
Junior first baseman
Johnny Gonzales went 4-for-5 with a double and a triple, while junior third baseman
Trent Franson went 2-for-4 with a triple and scored twice for HBU (4-9, 0-1 SLC). Junior second baseman
Cal Clark went 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
Senior righthander
Zach Carter (1-2) allowed six runs, four earned, on 10 hits with eight strikeouts and a walk in 7.1 innings.
Riley McKnight went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run, while Hunter Hearn went 2-for-5 with a run for the Bearkats (8-3, 1-0). Jordan Cannon went 2-for-4 with a run and Clayton Harp doubled, drove in a run and scored.
Hayden Wesneski (2-0) picked up the win, allowing three runs on 10 hits with 12 strikeouts and a walk in 8.1 innings. Nick MIkolajchak notched his first save, recording the final two outs.
Franson led off the bottom of the first with a single, then Gonzales and junior rightfielder
Brandon Bena had back-to-back base hits to load the bases. Clark drove in the first run, reaching on a fielder's choice.
Franson led off the third with a triple and scored on junior centerfielder
Chase Talbot's infield single. Talbot scored on Clark's RBI single to right to extend the Huskies' lead to 3-0.
SHSU scored an unearned run with the help of a couple of HBU errors in the fourth.
In the seventh, Cannon and Gavin Johnson led off with back-to-back singles for SHSU, then Diego Davila doubled down the leftfield line to plate both runs and tie the game, 3-3. McKnight reached on a fielder's choice, beating out a potential play ball as Davila scored the go-ahead run.
The Bearkats added a pair in the eighth on Harp's RBI double and Johnson's sacrifice fly.
Kyle Backhus walked a pair of Huskies in the ninth, but Mikolajchak came on to record the final two outs.
The series continues with a 1 p.m. first pitch Saturday, followed by the finale Sunday at 2 p.m.
