PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – HBU scored in all but one inning, doubled its season home run total with four round-trippers on the day and recorded head coach
Jared Moon's 300
th career victory with a 21-17 win over Prairie View A&M in non-conference baseball on a wind-blown Tuesday afternoon at Tankersley Field.
Sophomore first baseman
Carey Jones went 4-for-7 with a home run, two doubles, four RBIs and three runs, while junior rightfielder
Joe Van Marter went 3-for-5 with a pair of home runs, two RBIs and five runs scored for the Huskies (19-20). Senior leftfielder
Josh Leonhardt went 4-for-6, drove in three and scored twice and junior designated hitter
Christian Thames had a three-run home run and socred four times. Senior shortstop
Louie Payetta and senior second baseman
David Bloodworth each had two RBIs and scored twice, while junior catcher
Jacob Martinez and junior centerfielder
Zane Otten each drove in a pair of runs.
Junior righthander
JT Jakubik (1-2) earned the first win of his HBU career, allowing two runs, one unearned in 2.1 innings. Starter
Ivan Smith made his first career start and allowed two earned runs on three hits with a career-high six strikeouts in 3.2 innings. Senior closer
Dylan Zarosky notched his eighth save of the season, tying HBU's single-season record, by getting the last four outs in order, including striking out the side in the ninth. Zarosky extended his school record for career saves to 17.
Angel Avalos went 4-for-5 a pair of home runs, five RBIs and three runs, while Darrien Williams went 2-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs and scored twice for the Panthers (10-25). David Drake and Brashad Jones also homered and drove in two each.
Joseph Mack (0-2) took the loss for PVAMU, throwing 142 pitches and allowing 15 runs, 13 earned, on 14 hits with three strikeouts and seven walks in 6.0 innings. Three other Panther pitchers combined to allow six runs, five earned, the rest of the way.
Van Marter's solo shot to left to lead off the second, the first of his HBU career, put the Huskies ahead 2-0, but Rashad Jones tied it in the bottom half with a two-run shot.
Carey Jones hit a mammoth two-run blast over the scoreboard in leftcenter two untie the game the game in the third, then Martinez added an RBI single later in the frame. The Huskies added four more in the fourth on a two-run double by Jones, an RBI single by Leonhardt and an RBI double by Otten to lead 9-2.
PVAMU got back in the game by scoring six unearned runs in the bottom half of the inning, which included a two-run homer by Drake, to get back within one.
HBU answered with four more in the fifth on Thames' three-run blast and an RBI single by Leonhardt, but PVAMU rallied for five runs in the bottom half on a two-run double by Gurka, a two-run home run by Williams, then Avalos going back-to-back with a solo shot to tie the game, 13-13. The Panthers took the lead with an unearned run in the sixth, the only inning the Huskies failed to score.
The Huskies took the lead for good with five in the eight, highlighted by Payetta's two-run double, followed by Bloodworth's two run single up the middle to make the score 18-14. Avalos added a solo home run, his second of the game in the bottom half.
Leonhardt and Martinez tacked on RBIs in the eighth to take a 20-15 lead, but Williams and Avalos countered with RBIs in the bottom half to get back within three.
Van Marter's solo shot to left in the ninth, his second of the game, capped the scoring.
The Huskies' runs are tied for the most in the Division I era, matching the 21-11 victory over New York Tech on May 20, 2011, and the most overall since a 30-5 victory over Jarvis Christian on April 15, 2006.
HBU returns to action when it face league leader Southeastern Louisiana in a three-game Southland Conference series Friday through Sunday in Hammond, Louisiana.
