Bearkats sweep Dartmouth behind offensive weekend

Feb. 26—HUNTSVILLE — During the second weekend of the college baseball season, Sam Houston picked up its first sweep of the season over Dartmouth.

The Bearkats (5-2) combined for 33 hits and 26 runs over three games to put together a strong offensive outing that the 'Kats were unsure about heading into the long season.

In all three games, the Bearkats jumped out to early leads and kept their foot on the gas as they picked up a 7-2 Friday win, an 8-3 Saturday win and an 11-3 Sunday win over the Big Green.

"We just wanted to come out here today and set the tone early. We wanted to respond after last Sunday and the midweek," Sam Houston slugger and second baseman Easton Loyd said. "We just jumped out early and hard at-bats early was our plan."

Loyd was a key factor on the weekend for the Bearkats. With him being one of the key returners on the squad, he has shown out early.

Against the Dartmouth staff, Loyd with 4-10 with a perfect 3-3 Sunday, He kicked things off with a leadoff single that set up the 'Kats' first run. He also had three walks on the series, a double and drove in two runs.

With junior catcher Walker Janek batting in the two-hole, he made contact and grabbed seven hits in 14 at-bats. Sunday was his biggest day after driving in three of his four runs on the weekend.

"I thought we controlled the strike zone fairly well and we executed when we had to," Sam Houston head coach Jay Sirianni said. "Sunday was a crazy weather day but we were able to stay within the approach and do a good job."

But applying pressure was the name of the game. Sam Houston scored two runs with two outs in the bottom half of the fifth. Hunter Autry, a junior, led that charge with the two-out double that scored Malachi Lott.

Lane Brewster tacked on with a two-out hit in the bottom of the second on Saturday to score a run. In the same game but in the sixth inning, the Bearkats pushed across five runs to keep the pressure going.

"Our plan this whole weekend was to keep putting pressure and kind of run with it when we get the opportunity," Loyd said. "I think every day we go into practice with the mentality of being tough."

Against Oklahoma State last weekend, Sam Houston took the first two games and then was dropped 19-2 on Sunday with senior pitcher Miles Hellums on the bump. OSU took him for eight hits and eight runs in his 2 2/3rds innings pitched.

With a week to regroup, Hellums answered the call. In his Sunday start, Hellums stayed in the game for six innings of two-run baseball against the Big Green. Hellums opened the game with a lineout but a single and a hit batter put two runners on in a jam.

"I think it was a huge rebound start for Hellums," Loyd said. "He had a tough outing last week so it was good for him to build some confidence back up."

But then he settled down. Hellums allowed a second-inning double before getting five straight outs. Outside of a long ball by Nathan Ceyla, Hellums had a complete bounce-back game.

"Miles put in the work this week for sure. We were kind of tipping some pitches and we were executing the number two pitch. He had a good week of preparation and got after it. I thought we were able to get him further in the game than what we needed to."

Sirianni stuck with the same starters for the weekend with senior Coltin Atkinson getting the Friday start and Marshall Wales on Saturday.

The Friday game went just about the same as it did against OSU, minus a different relief pitcher. Atkinson went 5 2/3rds innings where the Big Green scored two runs. Texas A&M transfer Wyatt Tucker came in to finish the game where he locked down Dartmouth for 10 outs.

Wales in Saturday's game gave the Kats another long outing. The senior went six innings of five-hit baseball that landed Dartmouth one run. Wales faced 23 batters, struck out six and did not allow a single walk.

Sirianni used four pitchers in the game and went to Logan Hewitt first. Hewitt went three up and three down getting all of them on strikeouts,

Noah Kendrick got an opportunity on the mound and the Big Green got to him in his debut. The Nederland freshman allowed three hits and two runs in his inning of work. The close the game the Kats went to Michael Watson to shut the game down.

"I thought we threw a bunch of strikes, maybe too many. Secondly, we were elevated for the most part but I thought we did a good job of competing," Sirianni said.

Lott came to Sam Houston from the University of Houston as a two-way player. Sunday was the first time the Kats used the lefty on the mound. Lott was given the ninth inning coming in after Chandler David.

The junior grabbed the first two batters before Dartmouth got him for two hits. But he came back and grabbed a ground out to end the game.

"He is going to be a big piece of the bullpen for sure. Half of it is the coaching to figure out how to get him in the game because he is a big piece of the lineup as well," Sirianni said.

Now, Sam Houston has more opportunities to learn about the arms in its bullpen. The Bearkats will play two-midweek games this season to give them the back-to-back feel. First up for the Bearkats will be a home game against Houston Christian University on Tuesday.

The Bearkats will follow that with another home game against the University of Arlington on Wednesday. The Bearkats will host St. Johns for a weekend series.

"We are going to have to be efficient and we will have to use some guys that haven't gotten in the game yet," Sirianni said. "It is a good time of the year to get out, get guys experience and see what else we got."

First pitch for both midweek games is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Don Sanders Stadium. The Wednesday game will be broadcast on the ESPN+ platform.