MESA, Ariz. – Sam Houston demonstrated a powerful offense, scoring a whopping 39 runs to avoid elimination, by defeating Abilene Christian and Grand Canyon in the WAC Tournament held at Hohokam Stadium on Friday.
The Bearkats, the tournament’s second seed, thumped the fourth-seeded Wildcats 17-10, setting the stage for a face-off with the top-seeded Antelopes, who had suffered an unexpected defeat to sixth-seeded UT Arlington the previous day. Sam Houston thrashed GCU 22-8, in eight innings, marking the highest run total in a WAC Tournament game since 2007, and the fourth-highest of all time. This win set them up for a match against Utah Valley on Saturday at 5 p.m.
A late Friday game between the third-seeded Wolverines and the Mavericks would determine the next stage. If UTA clinched a victory, they would progress directly to Saturday’s 9 p.m. championship game. However, if Utah Valley emerged victorious, Sam Houston would need to beat the undefeated Wolverines twice on Saturday (5 p.m. and 9 p.m.) to claim the tournament.
The Bearkats initiated a 3-0 lead over ACU, thanks to Justin Wishkoski’s two-run home run in the first inning and Jake Tatom’s RBI double in the second. Despite briefly falling behind when the Wildcats scored four runs, Sam Houston began to regain control in the fifth inning, courtesy of RBI doubles from Clayton Chadwick and Walker Janek, along with Myles Jefferson’s two-run homer.
With two seventh-inning runs on RBI singles from Wishkoski and Chadwick and six runs in the eighth, the Bearkats secured their win and eliminated ACU from the tournament.
In their match against Grand Canyon, Sam Houston started strong, with Janek’s RBI double and Jefferson’s two-run single. The team then unleashed a scoring onslaught, with Chadwick’s two-run single igniting a nine-run second inning and Janek continuing his impressive performance by contributing three more runs with a left-center homer.
Despite a two-run response from the Antelopes, Sam Houston continued their scoring frenzy. Janek’s RBI double, Easton Loyd’s single and Tatom’s second triple drove the score to 16-2.
The eighth inning saw the Bearkats pile on six more runs to initiate the mercy rule, thereby eliminating GCU, the regular season champions. Janek added two more runs with another double, while Tatom and Wishkoski contributed with RBI singles, and Loyd secured an extra run with an RBI double.
In terms of pitching, Logan Hewitt went for six innings, allowing only four earned runs and improving his record to 4-1. Miles Hellums threw two scoreless innings to wrap up the game, providing some crucial rest for the bullpen following the doubleheader.
