SULPHUR – Sam Houston entered the second game of the LHSAA Non-select Division I state championship series Friday evening needing a win, and sophomore Owen Galley delivered to force today’s deciding game three.

No. 11 Sam Houston beat No. 1 Live Oak 4-3 to even the series. The Eagles won game one on Thursday, 3-1. Game three will start at 5:30 p.m. today.

Galley was faced with a tense situation in the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied 3-3. Sam Houston had two runners on base but was down to its last out, and Galley had a full count. He sent the ball flying to center field to bring home Brock Blessing to win the game.

“It means everything,” Galley said. “We’re the underdogs in this series.

“We’re the 11th seed. They’re (Live Oak) the one. We’re not expected to win. Everyone’s doubting us. We just have to keep grinding all the way through.”

It wasn’t the only time the Broncos needed some clutch two-out hitting.

Freshman third baseman Grant Oustalet hit a hard grounder that bounded over and out of reach of third baseman Brock Davis with two outs in the sixth inning to plate Haden Peshoff and tie the score, 3-3.

Galley, who went 3 for 4, had another critical hit in the opening frame when he smashed an RBI double off the left field wall to even the score at 2-2.

“Man, he’s a player,” Sam Houston head coach Chad Hebert said. “He’s so mature for a sophomore.

“I mean, you look at the game, you can take the walk-off, but look at the three plays he made at first. Diving plays to kill it with the PFP behind it. Gets three knocks in the game, executes a slash. He’s just locked in, man. The guy’s a winner, and he’s always going to be, and he’s going to win in life just because of who he is as a person.”

Sam Houston’s Bennett Harlow relieved starter Cole Flanagan in the fifth inning and pitched three scoreless innings. It was his second win in a relief role in the postseason.

Davis put the Eagles (33-7) on top 2-0 in the first inning with a two-run double.

After earning a save in game one on Thursday, reliever Trevor Hodges took the loss Friday after allowing an unearned run on two hits with four strikeouts and a walk in 1.1 innings.

 

Sam Houston 4

Live Oak           3

LO        210 000 0 – 3-7-1

SHHS  200 001 1 – 4-9-1

PITCHING: W – Bennett Harlow (3ip, 1h, 0r, 1k, 1bb). L – Trevor Hodges (1.1ip, 2h, 1r, 4k, 1bb).

TOP HITTERS: Live Oak – Cameron Washington 2-3 (run), Brock Davis 1-3 (2 RBI), Jace Griffin 2-2. Sam Houston – Connor Walker 2-4, Owen Galley 3-4 (2 RBI, double), Grant Oustalet 2-3 (RBI).

NOTE: Series tied 1-1.

RECORDS: Live Oak – 33-7. Sam Houston – 36-8.