Broncos hand Bucs first loss
Published 4:45 am Friday, March 26, 2021
Rodrick Anderson
MOSS BLUFF — The Sam Houston Broncos overcame an early scoring burst from Barbe to hand the Bucs their first loss of the season, 6-4, Thursday night.
Barbe won the first game of the series 8-2 on Tuesday after the Broncos committed three errors, but Sam Houston played nearly mistake-free this time.
“Our goal was to come in tonight and just play seven innings,” Sam Houston head coach Chad Hebert said. “I don’t feel like we played seven innings Tuesday night, not that you are going to score eight runs off of Jack Walker ever, but we didn’t play a clean game for seven innings.
“Tonight, I think we had maybe one error, and you could have scored that a hit because the ball was hit hard. All in all, we played a pretty clean seven innings. We put enough balls in play, and their (Barbe) pitching was good again tonight. We did what we had to do to win, and I am proud of our guy for that.”
Sam Houston (18-3, 1-1) got a huge relief outing from Dylan Thompson, who earned the win after pitching four and one-third scoreless innings with three strikeouts and three walks. Bronco starter Dallas Rhodes struck out five and walked one while giving up four runs on six hits.
“Dylan Thompson really figured some stuff out tonight for us,” Hebert said. “That was big.
“He has kind of struggled a little bit throwing strikes the last couple of outings. We were going to start him, and we talked about it as a staff, and we said he is a lot better in relief. We pulled him straight off of shortstop, and he went to work. It worked out in our favor.”
Barbe (20-1, 1-1) matched Sam Houston in hits with six but left eight runners stranded, including three in the third inning.
“We have played nearly perfect all year, and even the professionals don’t always play like professionals,” Barbe head coach Glenn Cecchini said. ìI love our guys.
“You have to give them (Sam Houston) credit. They made some good pitches and got some big hits. We left some runners on base. They made some big hits and scored five runs in the first inning. It is baseball. They had a couple more timely hits than us, and we made a couple of errors that cost us some runs. It was a close game. It was a dog fight, our guys competed to the end, and I am really proud of our guys.”
The Bucs (20-1, 1-1) scored two runs in the top of the first inning on an RBI double by Gavin Guidry and a ground out by JC Vanek.
But Sam Houston responded with five runs on two hits and a Barbe error, forcing Buc starter Adam Guth to the dugout. Rhodes tied the game with a two-run triple into the right-field corner, and Carson Devillier drove in the go-ahead run on a single through the left side with one out.
Barbe cut Sam Houston’s lead to one on a two-run home run to left field by Donovan Lasalle in the top of the third inning.
Sam Houston added an insurance run in the fourth inning on a two-out single up the middle by Andrew Glass.
Sam Houston will play at Comeaux (15-6, 0-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday, while Barbe will head west for a 1 p.m. game at Sulphur (10-12, 2-0).
Sam Houston6
Barbe4
Barbe202 000 0—4-6-2
S Houston500 100 0—6-6-1
PITCHING: W — Dylan Thompson. L — Adam Guth.
TOP HITTERS: Barbe — Kyle Debarge 2-4 (2 runs, double), Donovan Lasalle 2-4 (2 runs, 2 RBI, HR). Sam Houston — Dallas Rhodes 1-1 (2 RBI, triple).
RECORDS: Barbe — 20-1, 1-1. Sam Houston — 18-3, 1-1.
Sam Houston’s Carson Devillier makes a run-saving catch while falling backwards on a fly ball hit by Barbe’s Grant in the top of the fifth inning with two runners on base.
Barbe’s Donovan Lasalle (right) celebrates with third base coach Garin Cecchini after hitting a two-run home run in the third inning.
