ABILENE, Texas – HBU redshirt freshman righthander
Zach Carter went the distance for his first career victory as the Huskies clinched the Southland Conference series with a 4-1 victory over Abilene Christian Sunday afternoon at Crutcher Scott Field.
Carter (1-1), who missed the entire 2015 season with an arm injury, held the Wildcats to one run on four hits with five strikeouts and walk. He tossed the Huskies' second complete game of the year, with junior righthander
Addison Russ throwing the first in Friday night's win over ACU.
Senior first baseman
Justin Monsour went 3-for-4 with a double, and scored a run for the Huskies (16-15, 7-5 SLC). Junior third baseman
Austin Zillweger went 3-for-4 with an RBI and senior second baseman
Greg Espinosa went 2-for-4 and scored twice. Senior shortstop
Louie Payetta went 2-for-5, stole two bases, drove in a run and scored one, while senior designated hitter
Austin Saenz had two RBIs. The Huskies stole six bases as a team for the game, with Monsour tying for the second-most in a single game in school history and becoming the second to steal three in a game this season, along with junior outfielder
Zane Otten, who accomplished the feat at Stephen F. Austin on March 22.
Braxton Wilks went 2-for-4 and Aaron Draper went 1-for-4 with an RBI for ACU (11-19, 3-9).
Kyle Carroll (2-5) took the loss for the Wildcats, allowing three runs on seven hits with a strikeout and two walks in four innings. Drew Hanson tossed three innings, allowing an unearned run, and Nick Palacios did not allow a run over the final two innings.
Espinosa singled in the first, then went to third on a hit-and-run single by Zillweger. The Huskies took the early lead on Saenz's sacrifice fly. HBU struck again in the third when Payetta led off with a single, stole second and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Espinosa. Saenz came through again with an RBI single to rightcenter and give HBU a 2-0 lead.
Monsour led off the fourth with an infield single, then stole second and third and scored on an infield single by Payetta. Otten and Payetta also stole bases in the inning.
ACU got on the board in the sixth, when Hunter Markwardt was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on Draper's single to rightcenter. HBU got the run back in the seventh as Espinosa reach on an infield single and took second on a throwing error. Zillweger ripped an RBI single to center to extend the Huskies' lead to 4-1.
HBU returns to action when it travels to face UT Arlington in a non-conference game Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Clay Gould Ballpark in Arlington. The Legacy Sports Network audio broadcast with
Russ Reneau begins with the pregame show at 6:15 and can be accessed on HBUHuskies.com and LSN.
