MOSS BLUFF — Sam Houston overcame a bad start in a big way, scoring 14 unanswered runs in a 14-3, six-inning win over St. Louis.

The Saints (10-4) scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning on RBI singles by Dylan Manuel and Lenny Breda and a sacrifice fly by Chase Rains, but did themselves in with four errors which the Broncos (12-3) parlayed into big innings.

Sam Houston relievers Austin Gordon and Peyton McLemore held the Saints scoreless over the final five innings. Gordon retired all eight batters he faced and McLemore (3-1) earned the win with three scoreless innings.

“The turning point in the game for us was Austin coming in, getting out of a jam, throwing a goose egg in the second and third,” said Broncos head coach Brad Book. “It helped put some momentum in our dugout and we made some plays behind him. It was a great job by him. McLemore came in and got it done.”

The Broncos scored once in the second inning with the help of two errors, then tied the score in the fourth inning when Kameron Esthay singled and scored on a wild pitch and Blake Perrodin drove in a run with a fielder’s choice.

Sam Houston took the lead with a four-run fifth inning, highlighted by a two-run triple by Esthay and sacrifice fly by Tanner Helms. The Broncos scored seven runs in the sixth to blow the game open. Eric Peterson had two hits in the inning, including a two-run double.

Saints head coach Chad Hebert said the Saints are letting one mistake lead to another.

“We have made so many errors that we are overreacting to them,” he said. “We are focusing on what we are doing wrong instead of what we can do right to fix it. That’s high school baseball. Good teams are going to go through bad stretches and we are in one right now.

“It is going to show who we are (this weekend) when we go to West Monroe. It is a big tournament with big teams. We are either going to sit down and take a pounding or step up to the plate and show what kind of character we really have.”

Dylan Greenman went 2-for-3 to lead the Saints.

McLemore, Peterson and Esthay each had two hits each for Sam Houston and drove in seven runs combined.

Book said the Broncos need to shake a recent trend of allowing big first innings.

“Three of our last five games we gave up multiple runs in the first inning, then settled down,” he said. “It has been frustrating for us.”

(Rick Hickman / American Press)