As the third base umpire called the final out of Sam Houston State baseball’s 5-2 loss to McNeese State on Tuesday, SHSU head coach Matt Deggs stood at third base filled with emotion. Deggs laid into junior Miles Manning who was tagged for the third out when he had the option to stay at second base and give his team a chance to make a comeback.
“This team is a work in process,” Deggs said. “We’re going to get better. Our better days are in front of us. We’ve got a little bump in the road right now, and we’ll come through it.”
The Bearkats dropped their home return against Southland Conference foe McNeese after being swept by Louisiana-Monroe this past weekend. The loss gives SHSU a four-game losing streak and makes them 2-8 in their last 10 games.
Although McNeese is with SHSU in the SLC, this game will be the only time the Cowboys and Kats see each other in the regular season. Due to the amount of teams in the SLC and the games with other non-conference teams, the game did not count towards either teams’ conference record for this season.
Sophomore Dylan Ebbs started the game for the Kats and lasted on the mound for six innings. The Cowboys scored two runs while Ebbs was on the hill but both were unearned due to errors. Errors hurt SHSU yet again as the Kats recorded three errors. Ebbs also added two RBIs at the plate to provide the only runs for SHSU.
Offensively the Kats struggled at the plate once again. Besides Ebbs, the Kats recorded six hits from the four leadoff batters. No other player could make a hit in the nine innings of play. Seven strikeouts were thrown on the Kats, and seven runners were left on base in the game.
Senior pitcher Alex Bisacca relieved Ebbs in the seventh inning but gave up three runs in his 1.3 innings pitched. Ebbs records the loss however for his first loss of the season.
The 5-8 Kats look to end their losing streak this weekend as SLC play begins with the University of New Orleans traveling to Don Sanders for a three game series.
First pitch against New Orleans is scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m.
