The top-seeded Sam Houston State Bearkats scored four early runs and withstood a nearly two-hour rain delay in eliminating No. 5 Central Arkansas from the Southland Conference Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Constellation Field.
Sam Houston (39-19) had five of its seven hits in the game in the opening frame, scoring four times, which was just enough for starter Hayden Wesneski and stopper Dakota Mills to keep the Bearkats alive in the double-elimination tournament.
They will now await the loser of the nightcap between No. 4 Houston Baptist and No. 8 New Orleans in another elimination game scheduled for noon on Friday.
Wesneski was brilliant in his 7.0 innings, not walking a batter and scattering six hits to move to 7-3 on the season. He needed just 74 pitches to get there before the skies opened up at the conclusion of the seventh inning and delayed the game for nearly two hours. Mills then entered and retired all six hitters he faced after the delay to secure the win and his 15th save of the year.
All of the Bearkats’ damage came in the first inning against UCA (32-25) starter Cody Davenport, who rebounded nicely to retire 16 of the final 18 hitters he faced before the delay. He finished with four strikeouts and allowed just one hit in his final six frames.
Offensively, Andrew Fregia delivered a pair of singles while Clayton Harp, Hunter Hearn, Ben Haefner and Gavin Johnson all had RBI singles.