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SAN ANTONIO — No. 28 Sam Houston State took advantage of a pair of early miscues by UTSA and the Southland Conference-leading Bearkats scored eight runs in the first three innings en route to a 12-6 victory on Friday night at Roadrunner Field.
The Roadrunners (11-15, 3-7 SLC) put up five marks in the third, but the comeback bid ended there after they were held hitless the next four frames against the Bearkats' bullpen.
Taylor Holt (2-0) gave up just one run, walked two and struck out a pair in three panels, while Allen Scott picked up his third save of the season after allowing only one hit and over the final three innings.
Sam Houston State (17-9, 8-2 SLC) pounded out 16 hits, including four from Anthony Azar, while Jake Arrington was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and Kevin Miller registered a hit and drove in three.
The Bearkats scored four times in the first after capitalizing on UTSA's first error of the evening.
After senior starter Casey Selsor loaded the bases, Ryan O'Hearn hit a grounder to sophomore first baseman Mike Warren, but his throw to the plate was off target and it allowed a pair of runners to score. The Bearkats tacked on two more in the frame with Miller's run-scoring ground out and Arrington's sacrifice fly.
Arrington drove in Azar, who doubled to lead off the inning, two frames later with a triple to the right-center gap. The Bearkats then loaded the bases before junior third baseman Ryan Dalton was unable to handle a sharp grounder by Corey Toups that allowed two more runs to cross the plate. Colt Atwood pushed the lead to eight with a two-out RBI single.
The Birds finally broke through in the bottom of the stanza.
UTSA received a two-run double off the wall in left from Dalton with the bases loaded and senior Matthew James followed with another double that sent both Dalton and Rockett, who was hit by a pitch, plateward. The Roadrunners added their fifth run of the stanza on the Bearkats only error of the night.
Sophomore John Welborn was hit by a pitch to lead off the following panel. He promptly stole second and later scored on a Dalton sacrifice fly to pull UTSA to within two.
However, Sam Houston State took full control from there.
The Bearkats tacked on a pair of runs in the sixth and scored single tallies in both the eighth and ninth to put the contest out of reach.
Dalton finished the game with three of the Roadrunners' five hits and he also drove in three.
Selsor (3-4) was handed his fourth consecutive loss after surrendering 10 runs (four earned) on 11 hits in 5.1 innings of work. The San Antonio native walked four and struck out a quartet.
The series continues at 2 p.m. on Saturday.