Sam Houston rallied from 4-0 down to tie the game going into the ninth before falling 6-5 to Connecticut Friday night at Don Sanders Stadium.

The Kats (7-6) were in a hole early as starter Caleb Smith struggled to throw strikes in just one inning of work. Smith gave up three runs on three hits and three walks.

The lefty issued two walks and hit two batters in the first inning to give UConn (7-3) a 1-0 lead. In the second he gave up three hits to start the inning before walking in a run. He was replaced by Logan Boyd without recording an out in the second.

Boyd pitched seven innings of relief. The freshman lefty struck out nine batters while only allowing three hits. He was charged with three runs but only one was earned.

The Bearkats cut into the UConn lead with two runs in the fourth inning. Shortstop Carter Burgess led off with an infield single and scored on a groundout by catcher Jessie Plumlee. Rahm walked and scored on an error to make the score 4-2.

In the fifth the Kats again started things with an infield hit. Farney singled and advanced to second on a groundout. The sophomore stole third and Burgess singled to drive him in.

Connecticut got one run back in the eighth to make the score 5-3.

Hayden Simerly hit a pinch-hit homerun to lead off the bottom of the eighth. Luke Plucheck reached on a bunt base hit and advanced to second on a groundout before Farney drove him in to tie the game 5-5.

Logan Boyd walked the first batter of the ninth inning and was replaced by Juan Cortina. The runner advanced to second on a strikeout passed ball and then to third on another passed ball. He scored the winning run on a wild pitch.

The Bearkats and Huskies will finish the series with a doubleheader Saturday starting at noon at Don Sanders Stadium.