SUGAR LAND, Texas – Jake MacWilliam's walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth lifted Sam Houston State past the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team, 3-2, on Saturday in the Southland Tournament semifinal.
With the loss, the 2015 season comes to a close with the Islanders finishing 26-27. It marks the finish of the careers of 11 seniors – Trevor Belicek, Thomas Casey, Kyle Danford, Matt Danton, Jacob Dorris, AJ Flores, Kevin Landgrebe, Jordan Lee, Frankie Salas, Tyler Schnuriger and Tyler Ware. The six fourth-year seniors were a part of 114 victories and four Southland Tournament appearances in their time on the Island.
MacWilliam lined a 3-2 pitch into left center with the bases loaded to lift the Bearkats to the victory and send them into the Southland Championship game, where they will face Houston Baptist with an NCAA Tournament berth on the line.
Brett Burner went 2-for-4 with a run scored in a losing effort to lead the Islanders offense. Seven different Bearkats posted one hit each, with the pitchers providing most of the storyline. Schnuriger was brilliant in his first start of the season, allowing just two hits and two walks in six innings of work, striking out three. Belicek was carded with the loss, allowing three hits in the final 1 1/3 innings of the game, allowing three hits and just one unearned run. The senior finished the season with 111 strikeouts, the second-highest total in school history.
Alex Bisacca was awarded the victory after a masterful performance out of the bullpen. The senior allowed just one hit and one walk in three innings of shutout baseball, striking out four in the process. Andrew Godail picked up a no-decision, striking out 10 in six innings of work, with six hits and two walks surrendered.
A&M-Corpus Christi struck first in the top of the third. Lukas Hermanson led things off and ripped a double into the left-field corner for his fourth two-bagger of the year. Casey Thomas followed, and dropped a brilliant bunt along the third-base line for an infield single, putting runners on the corners. Next up was Lee, and the senior shot a grounder through the left side of the infield, scoring Hermanson for a 1-0 lead. But Godail got away with no further damage, with two strikeouts and a groundout ending the frame.
The Islanders were able to add to their lead with a two-out rally in the fourth. Burner delivered the hit to start things, lacing a double just inside the left-field line to stand on second. Hermanson followed, and hit a grounder on the right side that got away from Spence Rahm at first, and Burner was able to come all the way around to score and give A&M-Corpus Christi a 2-0 advantage.
On the other side, Schnuriger was tremendous in his first start of the year. He delivered 1-2-3 innings in the first and fourth and pitched out of small jams in the second and third. In the fifth he faced his biggest challenge to that point, with a leadoff walk and a single to center putting two on and nobody out. After a sacrifice moved both runners into scoring position, Schnuriger fell behind Ryan Brinley 3-0. But the righty battled all the way back to get a strikeout, and then retired Bryce Johnson on a flyout to keep the Bearkats off the scoreboard.
Godail got stronger as the game progressed. In the fifth, he struck out the side, then allowed just an infield single among the four batters he faced in the sixth. But on short rest and with his pitch count climbing, the Bearkats handed the ball over to Bisacca for the seventh. Bisacca set the Islanders down in order in the top of the seventh.
SHSU finally cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh. After Schnuriger gave up a leadoff walk, he gave way to AJ Flores. Zach Smith followed and chopped a ball through the right side to put runners on first and second, and a sac bunt moved them to second and third. Collin Yelich followed and grounded a ball to third, and Brandon Guilford threw to the plate, but the throw got away and allowed the first Bearkat run to score. A sac fly off the bat of pinch-hitter Trevor Winne then tied the score 2-2.
The Bearkats nearly garnered the lead in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases with one out against Dorris. But Belicek came in and put out the fire. The Islanders got the first out on a failed suicide squeeze, then Belicek struck Smith out to end the threat. A&M-Corpus Christi got a runner to third in the top of the ninth, but could not bring him home.
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