Photo GallerySUGAR LAND, Texas – HBU senior righthander
Taylor Wright went the distance, the second-straight complete game for the seventh-seeded Huskies, as they advanced in the winner's bracket in the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament with a 6-1 victory over sixth-seeded Central Arkansas Thursday night at Constellation Field.
Wright (8-6) allowed one run on six hits with five strikeouts and no walks on 101 pitches and did not allow a run after the teams waited out a two-hour rain delay. Junior lefthander
Matthew McCollough tossed a complete game in HBU 4-1 win over second-seeded Northwestern State Wednesday.
"I can't even explain it, it's a great feeling, I just wanted to do this for the team and wanted to save X's (pitching coach
Xavier Hernandez) bullpen and do the best I can to put us in a good position to go to a regional," Wright said. "I was trying to relax and reset (during the rain delay), with the runner on first, I was going to try to keep that guy from scoring and hopefully the bats would get going. It's a great group of guys, I love all of them to death, it's been the most fun I've ever had and I just can't wait to do it again."
Senior third baseman
Curtis Jones went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and senior rightfielder
Thomas Clay went 2-for-2 with a pair of walks and scored twice for the Huskies (26-25). Senior centerfielder
Zach Nehrir was 2-for-5 with a run, junior shortstop
Louie Payetta was 2-for-4 with an RBI and senior catcher
Samm Wiggins went 2-for-5. Senior designated hitter
Austin Saenz double, scored a run and was hit by a pitch.
"It means a lot (to have a breakout game), to have
Taylor Wright throw a big game, coming up with runners in scoring position, putting the ball in play and just trying to make something happen," Jones said. "This is a great group of guys coming out here, working hard, playing for each other – it's awesome."
Chris Durham (2-1) took the loss for UCA (28-23), allowing three runs on eight hits in four innings, while Derek Beier allowed three runs on seven hits in four innings of relief.
Ty Tice went 3-for-4 with a double and scored a run for the Bears, while Tyler Langley was 2-for-4.
UCA got on the board first as Tice doubled to rightcenter to lead off the second, went to third on an infield single by Logan Preston, then scored on a wild pitch. The Bears held their 1-0 lead when the rain delay came in the top of the third inning.
When play resumed the Huskies struck quickly in the bottom of the third. Junior second baseman
Greg Espinosa led off with a single, then Clay singled through the right side. After Nehrir flied out for the second out, Payetta and Jones delivered back-to-back RBI singles to give HBU a 2-1 lead.
HBU tacked on another run in the fourth when Seanz doubled and later scored on a groundout by Espinosa, then scored again in the fifth as Jones and Wiggins singled, then Alvarez came through with a two-out RBI single to extend the Huskies' lead to 4-1.
Clay walked to lead off the eighth, then Nehrir singled and Payetta laid down a sacrifice bunt. With the infield in, Jones blooped a two-run single to right to put HBU up, 6-1.
The Huskies will play Friday at 4 p.m. and will face the winner of the morning game between UCA and Northwestern State.
