Bearkats make it two in row over Demons

By Tom Waddill
Sports Editor

May 04, 2008 01:48 am

— For the second day in a row, the Bearkats got just what the doctor ordered, a lengthy and superb performance from their starting pitcher.
Thanks to a grand slam by catcher Heath Pugh, the end result was a 7-1 win for Sam Houston State in the second game of a Southland Conference series against Northwestern State at Don Sanders Stadium.
Right-hander Guillaume Duguay, a junior transfer from Galveston College, pitched 8 1/3 innings and allowed only one run, that coming on a wind-blown homer to right by big Mike Jaworski. Duguay (3-1) gave up 10 hits and one walk, but he continually pitched out of trouble by getting the Demons to ground or fly out with runners on base.
“With the wind blowing in pretty good, I wanted to make them guess at pitches and get them out in front so they would fly out,” said Duguay, who played high school baseball north of the border in Quebec. “The wind was blowing out to right all day and they have a lot of right-handed hitters. I wanted to get groundballs or fly balls to left.”
Northwestern State, which dropped to 14-8 in SLC play, left 10 men on base Saturday. In the series opener Friday, SHSU freshman Dallas Gallant threw eight strong innings in the Bearkats’ 5-1 win.
A pitching staff that has been hit hard by injuries, and one that has lacked bullpen depth all season, the Bearkats needed both Gallant and Duguay to go as many innings as possible this weekend.
Zac Baker relieved Gallant on Friday night and finished the game with a scoreless ninth. Casey Springer did the job Saturday, getting the Bearkats out of a jam by coaxing a double-play grounder to end the contest.
After Northwestern State took a 1-0 lead in the first, the Bearkats (14-9 in SLC play, 29-19 overall) hung six runs on the board in the third. Todd Sebek ripped a single to left to start the rally. Bobby Verbick doubled off the top of the fence in right-center to tie the score at 1. Seth Hammock’s single brought home Keith Stein with the go-ahead run.
Two batters later Pugh unloaded on a Heath Hennigan pitch, driving the ball over the right-field fence to make it 6-1.
“I got a good pitch to hit and I ran into it, I guess,” the unassuming Pugh said.
Instead of talking about his big hit, Pugh spoke of the job turned in Saturday by Duguay.
“That was probably Guillaume’s best outing of the year,” Pugh said. “He went out there and filled the zone up with three pitches — fastball, slider and changeup. He made good pitches all day long and just pitched outstanding.”
Duguay’s head coach also was impressed.
“We’ve had back-to-back good pitching performances,” Bearkats coach Mark Johnson said. “Gallant gave us a great start last night and Guillaume threw really well today. It was important for those guys to pitch deep into the ballgame because we’ve got some people hurt right now. We knew if they got into our bullpen on Friday or Saturday we might be in trouble, but that didn’t happen. It has panned out really well to get that kind of distance out of our starters.”
One of the Bearkats’ weekend starters, sophomore Ryan Tepera, is out with a staph infection on his foot. Freshman Matt Shelton sprained an ankle recently and two more pitchers — freshmen Zach Neal and Justin Jackson — are still not ready to return from nagging arm injuries that have sidelined them for the last month.
Gladly, Duguay accepted his assignment. He pitched out of mini jams in the second, sixth and eighth innings before handing the ball to Springer with two on and one out in the ninth.
“I felt comfortable all day. I was throwing strikes all of my pitches and the guys behind me played some pretty good defense,” Duguay said. “Pugh’s home run really helped. That was definitely a huge part of this game. That helped me relax even more.”
Hammock led the Bearkat offense with three hits, an RBI and two runs scored Saturday. Sebek added a pair of singles and a stolen base. Verbick and Nick Zaleski drove in one run apiece.
Jaworski had two hits for Northwestern State.
Today, the Bearkats will close the series with freshman left-hander Brent Powers (2-2, 5.84) on the mound. The Demons are countering with junior righty Clatyon Cooper (5-3, 4.04). Game time is 1 p.m.