LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana – HBU exploded for five runs in the third inning and senior
Dylan Zarosky closed the door on McNeese State's comeback hopes as the Huskies clinched the Southland Conference opening baseball series with a 7-5 victory Sunday at Cowboy Diamond.
Senior shortstop
Louie Payetta went 3-for-3 with a double, a pair of walks, two runs an RBI to finish the series 9-for-11 with three doubles, four RBIs and three runs for the Huskies (10-6, 2-1 SLC). Junior rightfielder
Brandon Brintz went 3-for-4 with a walk and a run, while senior second baseman
Greg Espinosa went 2-for-5 with a double and a run. Senior first baseman
Andrew Alvarez went 2-for-4 with a double, a triple, two RBIs and a runs and senior designated hitter
Austin Saenz went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run.
Junior righthander
Julian Griego (3-0) earned the win, allowing four runs on nine hits with a strikeout and no walks in six-plus innings. Zarosky held McNeese hitless, allowing an unearned run with two strikeouts and three walks over the final three innings to earn his fifth save of season. He now stands second all-time at HBU with 14 saves for his career, one shy of leader J.D. Sellers.
Ricky Ramirez and Connor Crane each went 2-for-4 and scored a run for the Cowboys (7-7, 1-2). Shane Selman added a two-run home run, his third of the year, while Joe Provenzano went 1-for-4 with two RBIs.
Austin Sanders (1-2) took the loss for McNeese, allowing six runs on eight hits with a strikeout and two walks. Trent Fontenot tossed three scoreless innings and Collin Kober allowed one run on three hits with four strikeouts in 3.1 innings for the Cowboys.
Payetta got things started for HBU in the first, singling to right and scoring on an RBI single by Saenz.
In the third, Payetta singled to left, Brintz singled through the right side, then Payetta scored on another RBI single by Saenz. Alvarez then blasted a two-run triple to leftcenter, scored on a wild pitch, then senior leftfielder
Josh Leonhardt added an RBI single to put the Huskies ahead, 6-0.
After HBU loaded the bases with no outs and failed to score in the top of the inning, Ramirez led off the fourth with a single for McNeese, then Crane was hit by a pitch. They moved up on a groundout by Todd Hinkley, then scored on Provenzano's two-run single to cut the Huskies' lead to 6-2.
Matt Gallier was hit by a pitch to lead off the fifth for the Cowboys, then Selman smacked a two-run homer to left to make the score 6-4.
With two outs in the eighth, Espinosa singled up the middle and scored on Payetta's double to put the Huskies back up by three. The Cowboys got the run back in the bottom of the inning as Hinkley walked and Provenzano reached on a fielder's choice. Jake Cochran plated a run with a sacrifice fly, but Dustin Duhon lined out to end the threat on a spectacular diving stop by senior third baseman
Justin Monsour.
Zarosky put the Cowboys down in order in the ninth to seal the win as the Huskies took the series two games to one.
The Huskies return to action next weekend when they travel to face Cal State Northridge in a four-game series Friday through Sunday. Friday's single game begins at 6 p.m. PDT, followed by Saturday's doubleheader at 11 a.m. PDT and Sunday's single game finale at 1 p.m. PDT. The Legacy Sports Network broadcast with
Russ Reneau begins with the pregame show 15 minutes prior to the first pitch of each game on HBUHuskies.com.
