HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston Bearkats scored three times in the ninth inning, getting a walk-off, 2-run double by
Anthony MacKenzie to come all the way back and take down Baylor, 11-10, at Don Sanders Stadium.
The Kats (11-5) won their seventh game in a row, erasing a 9-2 deficit in the fourth inning behind stellar bullpen work and an offense that scored nine times in the final five frames.
Sam Houston will try to extend its win streak to eight in a row on Wednesday night when it travels to Rice. The game can be watched on CUSAtv or heard live on GoBearkats.com or the GoBearkats app.
MacKenzie's hit capped off the night in style with his second double off the game on a night that saw him score three times from the leadoff spot. The Kats entered the ninth trailing 10-8 and got a run back on
Walker Janek's fourth single of the night, and two batters later Janek scored the winning run after MacKenzie blasted the first pitch he saw from Baylor reliever Matt Voelker off the center field wall for the win.
Janek finished the night reaching base all five times he came to the plate, while
Carlos Contreras continued to log quality at-bats, finishing 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. The offensive output helped the Kats overcome five defensive miscues that led to six unearned runs by the Bears (9-7).
Reliever
Gavi Coldiron picked up his first win as a Bearkat, but the rest of the Bearkat bullpen was just as good.
Logan Hewitt got the start and was tagged with eight runs, but only four earned after a trio of errors committed behind him in the first four innings.
Alex Havlicek followed and allowed just one unearned run in 1.1 innings before
Blaine Romero,
Dakota Palmer and
Hunter Murray all combined to score scoreless innings to get it to Coldiron in the ninth.
Baylor used six pitchers of its own with Voelker taking his second loss of the season after allowing the winning run to score.
The Bears had staked themselves to a 4-0 lead in the first two innings before the Kats got going, scoring twice in the second on a sacrifice fly by
Trent Touchet and a single by Janek to make it a 4-2 game. But two errors in the fourth proved costly and led to five Baylor runs, upping the lead to 9-2 on a double by Harrison Caley.
However, the Kats were able to chip away, starting in the fifth when
Easton Loyd singled home a pair. One inning later the Kats put up three more on a wild pitch and RBI from both
Justin Wishkoski and Contreras.
It looked as though the comeback may fall short, however, when Baylor tacked on an insurance run on a sacrifice fly from Nicolas Balsano in the top of the ninth, its first run since the fourth; however, Coldiron prevented any further damage and gave the Kats a chance in the home half of the inning.
A leadoff single by Touchet opend the inning and two batters later Voelker entered, walking
Jacob Guerrero to put the tying run on base. Janek then battled with the Bear lefty, winning a 10-pitch at-bat with a single to left that scored Touchet to cut the lead to 10-9. Voelker then delivered a strikeout of pinch hitter
Christian Smith after another 9-pitch at-bat, but the next one was all it took for MacKenzie as he launched the first offering he saw over the arm of center fielder Jared McKenzie for the winner.
