The Sam Houston baseball team had a challenging weekend series against New Jersey Institute of Technology but salvaged a win in the final game to avoid a sweep. 

After losing the first two games of the weekend, the Bearkats picked up a 6-3 win in Sunday’s series finale. Sam Houston led for most of the game, then responded to a late NJIT rally by scoring three runs in the final two innings. Ryan Franden’s RBI triple in the eighth proved pivotal, with Blake Brown driving in two more runs. Cole Marthijohni picked up the win, throwing three scoreless innings in relief. 

Friday’s series opener less-than-ideal weather conditions, with temperatures dipping and scattered rainstorms affecting the schedule. What was initially set to be a four-game series was reduced to three games after the second game of Saturday doubleheader was canceled due to weather. 

The Bearkats battled back late on Friday, scoring four runs in the ninth inning to cut into an eight-run deficit. However, their comeback fell short as they lost 9-5. Brown led the offense with two hits and two RBI, and Ty Marthijohni went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Garrett Baumann pitched three innings of solid relief, allowing just one hit. 

Saturday’s game was a back-and-forth contest. The Bearkats trailed 7-3 before scoring six runs over the fifth and sixth innings to take the lead, but a rough top of the 9th allowed NJIT to reclaim the lead on a fielding error. Despite a strong offensive effort, including multi-hit games from Ryan Franden (3-for-5, two RBI) and Addison Smith (2-for-3, three RBI), the Bearkats lost 12-9. Danny Valadez and Devin Bennett tossed seven innings of relief. 

The Bearkats will now look ahead to their next matchup on Tuesday, as they travel to Houston for the 2025 Don Sanders Cup opener against the Cougars.