Houston infielder Carsten Sabathia III (44) celebrates his run to first base during an NCAA baseball game, Saturday, March 28, 2026 in Houston, Texas. | Gillian Wisniewski/Cougar
The Houston Cougars headed to Huntsville on April 7 to square off against the Sam Houston State Bearkats for the Don Sanders Cup finale, with a final score of 5-4. The Cougars pulled off an amazingly close win against the Bearkats at Don Sanders Stadium.
Headed into this matchup, with wins against #2 Alabama and #3 Texas, the Cougars are the only Big 12 team with one Top 3 win, one of two with at least one Top 5 win and one of seven with at least four Quad 1 wins. Houston leads the overall series 93-89 against Sam Houston State University.
The scoring began when Houston redshirt sophomore Xavier Perez tripled to left-center field in the third inning for an RBI. That brought in freshman infielder Blake Fields, who was the first Cougar to cross home plate.
The Bearkats quickly responded in the bottom of the fourth inning when redshirt junior infielder Ryan Franden doubled down the right field line for an RBI. That brought home teammate senior outfielder Jeric Curtis for a score. The Bearkats scored again in the same inning when junior infielder Hunter Alvord singled up the middle, allowing Franden to come home.
After four more scoreless innings, the Cougars finally lit up the scoreboard with four runs in the top of the eighth. First, senior infielder Antonelli Savattere advanced to second on a wild pitch. That also advanced junior catcher Riley Jackson to third and allowed Perez to score.
Then, sophomore infielder Jackson LaLima singled to center field, which advanced sophomore outfielder McClane Helton to third and brought home both Savattere and Jackson for two more points on the board.
Finally, senior infielder Tyler Cox flied out to right field, bringing Helton in for the final Cougar score of the game and put the score at 5-2 at the end of the inning.
The Bearkats weren’t ready to call it quits yet, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth to keep things interesting. Curtis crossed home plate again on a wild pitch. Junior infielder Sean Bazmore then flied out to right field. That play brought Franden in for the final score of the game.
The Houston Cougars are returning home for their next game to go up against the Brigham Young University Cougars on April 9.
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