The Sam Houston baseball team completed a three-game sweep of Southland Conference rival UTSA on Sunday with a 15-1 seven-inning ball game.

It was the second straight day the No. 28-ranked Bearkats (19-9, 10-2 SLC) won via the mercy rule, and in the process extended the team’s winning streak to eight games, which is the third longest at the NCAA level for the Kats. It is also only the fourth time in 25 years the Kats have swept back-to-back Southland series.

The game was tied at one in the early going, when the Bearkats broke the scoring open in the fourth. They plated six, including a Jake Arrington triple to score two. SHSU added three more in the fifth inning on RBI singles by Greg Olson and John Hale.

They tacked on four more in the seventh inning on another Hale RBI single and a bases-loaded clearing double by Anthony Azar.

Justin Jackson (5-2) was the winning pitcher for the Kats, working 5 1/3 innings, allowing just the one run on six hits. Michael Burchette worked 1 2/3 innings of relief without allowing a hit.

The Kats pounded out 17 hits, with Luke Plucheck, Hale and Ryan O’Hearn each collecting three. For the series the Bearkats outscored UTSA 40-9 and outhit the Roadrunners 49-15. Corey Toupes, Arrington, Hale and Azar all had multiple runs driven in with Azar plating three.

Azar and Arrington both had great weekends at the plate. Azar had nine hits (.600 BA) and a seven RBI while Arrington also drove in seven runs on 7-for-10 hitting (.700 BA).

The Bearkats will look to extend the winning streak to nine on Tuesday when they take on No. 13 Rice. The Kats have had just two win streaks reach double-digits since moving up to the NCAA level, taking 10 straight in 2009 and 11 straight last season.

They will return home on Thursday for a Southland series against Northwestern State. Thursday and Friday games will start at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday afternoon will be at 1 p.m.