HUNTSVILLE – Second baseman Braeden Riley’s two-run single sparked a five-run sixth inning as Sam Houston State came from behind to defeat Lamar 8-5 to take a Southland Conference baseball series from the Cardinals Saturday at Don Sanders Stadium.

The win marked the 17th time this spring the Bearkats have rallied from a deficit to earn a victory. Sam Houston took two of three games in the SLC series with Lamar to up its season record to 20-13 and its league mark to 11-7.

Lamar (23-13, SLC 10-8) jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a run in both the third and fourth inning.

Riley went 2-for-5 at the plate with three RBIs as Sam Houston totaled eight hits. Both Tyler Link and Chris Dunkin were 2-for-4 as Lamar totaled nine hits.

Brent Powers (1-0) was the winning pitcher, spreading six hits over seven innings while striking out seven Cardinals. Will Skelton picked up his first save of the season, pitching the final inning and one third.

Ricky Test (3-3) was the loser for Lamar.

Sam Houston State will play host to Houston at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Don Sanders Stadium.

Line Score:

Sam Houston St 8, Lamar 5 (Apr 11, 2009 at Huntsville, TX)
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Lamar............... 001 100 120  -  5  9  1      (23-13, 10-8)
Sam Houston St...... 000 005 21X  -  8  8  1      (20-13, 11-7)
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Pitchers: Lamar - Testa, Ricky; Brandhorst, James(6); McInnis, Taylor(6); Needham, Brian(8).
Sam Houston St - Powers, Brent; Shelton, Matt(8); Skelton, Will(8).
Win-Powers, Brent(1-0)  Save-Skelton, Will(1)  Loss-Testa, Ricky(3-3)  T-2:53  A-287
Weather: A little cloudy
Game: SHBB33