Kats season ends in CUSA Tournament
KENNESAW, Ga — One day after an exciting 14-13 win over Louisiana Tech, Sam Houston saw its season close against No. 2 seed Liberty. A four-run sixth inning for the Flames was too much for Sam Houston to overcome as the Bearkats fell 10-4.
The loss eliminates them from the CUSA Tournament, despite the crazy Wednesday win over LA Tech. The Bearkats made it interesting in the eighth inning, but a three-run blast from Liberty’s Nick Barone in the ninth put the game back out of reach. The Flames scored four runs to put it out of reach.
With Tyler Ryden still out with soreness, Sam Houston turned to Tate Hickman in the second do-or-die game. Hickman, who has struggled on the road, gave the Bearkats five much-needed innings of work after the arms that were used yesterday. Hickman got through the first five innings relatively unscathed, as the Flames scored two runs off him.
Liberty grabbed the first run with a two-out single from Landon Scilley in the second and the second with a one-out single from Jordan Jaffee in the third. Outside of that, Hickman retired 15 batters while allowing seven hits. Sam Houston's head coach, Jay Sirianni, grabbed Hickman after back-to-back singles to open the sixth.
Sirianni went to one of the better arms in the bullpen in Zach Alarid, who failed to record an out, and gave up an RBI single and then a three-run shot to centerfield to break the game open. Alarid left the game with Liberty leading 6-1 as Connor Mondey was the next pitcher. Sam Houston’s offense saw a surge against LA Tech as it went to 12 hits and 14 runs in the outing.