HUNTSVILLE – Steven Beard struck out eight batters in his second career start and six early runs by the Sam Houston Bearkats held up in a 6-3 win over Nebraska, clinching the 4-game series on Sunday afternoon at Don Sanders Stadium.
The Kats (3-1) took three of four games from the Cornhuskers (1-3) on the weekend and now will look at a stretch of three consecutive ranked opponents, beginning Tuesday night at Globe Life Field against No. 7 Oklahoma State.
Sam Houston put a pair of runs on the board in the first and then scored four times with two outs in the second to build up a 6-0 lead, an advantage that Beard made stand up for 6.0 frames. The lefty from The Woodlands struck out a career-best eight hitters and walked just one in his shutout effort to earn the win, needing just 77 pitches to do so.
Tyler Davis and
Gavi Coldiron followed him in relief, but it was
Lance Lusk pitching for the third straight day who picked up the save, striking out pinch hitter Gabe Swansen to end the eighth inning after Nebraska had scored three times to make things interesting. He then closed out his second save of the weekend with a perfect ninth inning on just six pitches.
At the plate the Kats got contributions throughout the lineup, including a 3-for-4 day from
Carlos Contreras and a pair of hits from
Trent Touchet.
Justin Wishkoski scored twice and had an RBI single in a 2-run first inning, but it was the 4-run second that opened things up.
Singles by freshmen
Walker Janek and
Lane Brewster opened the inning, but all of the damage came with two outs, starting with a 2-run single by Contreras after the Cornhuskers elected to walk Wishkoski to load the bases. That hit followed a run-scoring wild pitch and was followed by am RBI double by Touchet, quickly giving the Kats their 6-run cushion.
