Sam Houston St. eyes title game
Bearkats have Rojas’ offense to complement stingy pitching
SUGAR LAND — Hot-hitting Robie Rojas believes Sam Houston State is hard to match at its best.
It’s getting harder by the year to disagree with the senior catcher.
The Bearkats beat New Orleans 7-1 on Friday at Constellation Field, setting them up for a third straight Southland Conference tournament title game at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Sam Houston State (39-20) seeks its second consecutive Southland tournament title and sixth all-time when it plays the winner of a 1 p.m. elimination game between Central Arkansas and Houston Baptist.
“When we came in this tournament, we knew that when we’re playing our best ball, nobody in the country can play with us,” Rojas said. “We showed it against A&M, every Tuesday night.”
Rojas’ sixth-inning solo home run to left field for a 3-0 lead felt like a crushing blow in a well-pitched game by the Bearkats.
In the conference tournament this week, Rojas is 8-for-12 with two home runs, six RBIs and six runs scored.
Starter Seth Ballew threw four innings of onehit ball with four strikeouts and two walks.
The relievers were just as good. Riley Cooper, who got the win, gave up three hits with three strikeouts in 22⁄3 innings. Dakota Mills allowed two hits in one inning with an unearned run in the eighth.
That lone blemish was off Hezekiah Randolph’s two-out single, which set up an outfield error that allowed Aaron Palmer to score from first base after his leadoff single.
Kyle Backhus relieved Mills and got the final out in that eighth inning. Nick Mikolajchak closed out the game.
There was some impressive play from Sam Houston State with a fifthinning hidden-ball trick. New Orleans had runners at the corners when Taylor Beene tagged Orynn Veillon out at third for the second out of the sixth inning. Cooper got out of the inning, preserving the 2-0 lead.
“It’s just an edge,” Bearkats coach Matt Deggs said of the ploy. “We’re always looking for an edge. Name of the game is how fast can you get 27 outs. Nobody tells you how you have to get them.”
Sam Houston State’s two early runs came in the second inning off Jaxxon Grisham’s RBI walk and Beene’s sacrifice fly to right. After Rojas’ home run, Josh Biles chipped in his RBI double four batters later.
Blake Chisolm’s ninthinning, two-RBI triple and his subsequent score off a throwing error rounded out the scoring.
After recording the save in the Huskies’ 5-4 victory over McNeese State in the afternoon, sophomore righthander Zach Carter got the start in the evening, tossing eight innings in the win over the Bears.
The Huskies (29-24) and Bears (32-25) will square off again at 1 p.m. Saturday for the right to play Sam Houston State (39-20) in the championship game at 6 p.m.
Carter (7-3) allowed two runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and four walks. He threw 123 pitches.
Junior shortstop Tyler Depreta-Johnson went 3-for-4 and scored twice; senior designated hitter Christian Thames went 2-for-4 with a home run.