Wyatt Homer in 11th Inning Gives Sam Houston State Walk-off Victory over UTSA
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas ? Sam Houston State catcher Mark Wyatt sent a towering shot over the fence in left field in the bottom the 11th inning to give the Bearkats an 8-6 tug-a-war victory over UTSA Friday at the Southland Conference Tournament in Whataburger Field.
The win extended the Bearkats’ win streak in the conference tournament to 10 games and put them in good position of reaching Saturday’s championship game. Sam Houston awaits the winner of tomorrow’s 9 a.m. game between second-seed Southeastern Louisiana and third-seed UTSA. That game will be played Friday at 4 p.m. and a Bearkat win puts them in the championship contest Saturday at 6 p.m.
Thursday’s thriller was a game neither wanted to let out of their grasp.
Trailing 4-3 through seven innings, UTSA (32-23) erupted for three runs in the top of the eighth to take a two-run lead. Center fielder Michael Rockett doubled in the first two runs and third baseman Lance Brown drove in another.
But just like they did in the sixth after the Roadrunners took a 3-2 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the inning, the Bearkats again had an answer. In that bottom of the sixth, Sam Houston reclaimed the lead with two-run home run by right fielder Tyler Knight.
In the eighth, a two-run double down the right-field line by center fielder Adam DeLaGarza tied the game and forced extra innings. UTSA went in order in the ninth, while the Bearkats stranded two in the bottom half. After the Roadrunners went in order again in the 10th, Sam Houston left the winning run at third.
UTSA could not bring home a runner it got in scoring position in the 11th and that proved to be costly.
Left fielder Nick Zaleski led off the inning with a single through the left side and then Wyatt delivered a one-out no-doubter to left field to win the game.
Zaleski finished 4-for-6 with an RBI, while first baseman Daniel Nottebart went 3-for-4. DeLaGara had two hits and drove in three while Wyatt and Knight drove in two apiece. Rockett was the leading hitter for UTSA. He finished 3-for-5, drove in four and scored twice.
Sam Houston reliever Matt Shelton entered the game in the eighth and ended up getting the win holding the Roadrunners off the board in a hitless 3 2/3 innings. He is now 6-0. Matt Crocker took the loss for UTSA to drop to 6-2.
Top-seeded Texas State and Lamar are playing Thursday’s final game.
Live stats for all tournament action is available at www.southland.org, which also features SLC NOW, the conference’s streaming video channel.
Sam Houston State Head Coach Mark Johnson
“I thought it was a great college baseball game. The pitchers did extremely well, hitting was good and sharp. Brent Powers pitched the best I have seen him throw. He started getting his changeup in during the fifth and doing some things well. I really hated to take him out of the ball game. Matt Shelton came in and threw a lot of pitches for us. He typically doesn’t throw that many but he threw very, very well. We had a number of chances to win the ballgame. I told the guys that I was glad we won because I didn’t have to live with some of the decisions I made. I like Mark real well right now.”
“We play well in the tournament. I told the guys tonight that it is the ultimate fun when we play as hard as we played and put our heart on the line. The whole game was fun, and I told them I would have said that whether we won or lost. They really competed hard and didn’t give in. We had some discouraging moments in the eighth but we came back and kept putting the ball in play. I have had some really good ball players compete in this tournament. We had some guys step up tonight, there were a lot of moments to be had and our players stepped up and got it done.”
Sam Houston State Catcher Mark Wyatt
On game-winning home run
“Early in the count, he was throwing some cutters. He threw me a few fastballs and I started thinking that maybe he was just going to come at me with fastballs from then on. I had the 3-1 pitch that I was sitting on and I just missed it. I figured he was going to come back again with a fastball because he didn’t want to walk me and move the winning run to second base. I just tried to put the sweet part of the bat on the ball.”
“We all believe that we can play with anybody. There is nobody that we are scared of. There are a lot of good teams in this tournament; I just feel that we match up real well against all of them.”
Sam Houston State Pitcher Matt Shelton
“I came in and felt like I was going to shut them down and we would win it that inning. As the game went on and we kept getting runners on, I thought that was the inning and I wouldn’t have to go back out there. Finally, we got it done in the 11th and I was really happy.”
“Mark was up to bat and we knew he would get it done. As soon as it hit the bat, we knew it was gone and we just went absolutely crazy.”
UTSA Head Coach Sherman Corbett
“I thought the game was a playoff type of game, a winner’s bracket game. There is a lot on the line and I thought both teams came out and played extremely hard. Sam Houston came out aggressive early. They gave us a punch early in the game but we made a couple of plays and held them to two runs early in the game. We got ourselves going and matched the intensity and speed of the game. The disappointing thing was to put multiple runs up to gain the lead and give them right back in the bottom of the inning. Once we got the momentum we gave it right back to them. When we got to extra innings, both teams were fighting and made some plays. Give Sam Houston credit for fighting and they came out on top.”
“We are going to go get something to eat, get back to the hotel and get as much rest as we can. The resolve of this team is going to be challenged tomorrow morning after having a tough loss tonight and coming back in the morning and having to play Southeastern Louisiana early. I’m expecting our guys to come out and play hard. We are going to keep playing with energy until they tell us we have to go home.”