HBU Huskies (14-14, 5-4 SLC) at Abilene Christian Wildcats (10-17, 2-7 SLC)
Crutcher Scott Field - Abilene Texas
Friday, April 8 - 6 p.m. (Audio / Live Stats)
Saturday, April 9 - 6 p.m. (Audio / Live Stats)Sunday, April 10 - 1 p.m. (Audio / Live Stats)Game NotesABILENE - HBU hits the road again to face Abilene Christian in a three-game Southland Conference baseball series this weekend at Crutcher Scott Field. Friday's opener begins at 6 p.m., Saturday's start time has been moved to 6 p.m. due to the rain forcast for early in the day, and a 1 p.m. first pitch in the finale Sunday.
Senior shortstop
Louie Payetta is hitting .312 with six doubles, a team-leading 15 RBIs and 13 runs for the Huskies (14-14, 5-4 SLC), while senior second baseman
Greg Espinosa is hitting .288 with five doubles, a triple, 11 RBIs and a team-leading 16 runs. Junior third baseman
Austin Zillweger has an eight-game hitting streak to raise his average to .283 with three doubles, five RBIs and nine runs, while junior outfielder
Zane Otten has reached safely in nine straight and is hitting .278 and leads HBU with six stolen bases.
HBU will likely send junior righthanders
Addison Russ (4-2, 2.32 ERA) and
Julian Griego (1-3, 3.98 ERA) and redshirt freshman righthander
Zach Carter (0-1, 3.10 ERA) or junior lefthander
Christian Thames (1-3, 3.98 ERA) to the mound. Senior closer
Dylan Zarosky (2-2, 2.05 ERA) is tied for the league lead with seven saves and is the Huskies' all-time leader with 16 for his career.
Alex Copeland leads ACU with a .315 batting average, five doubles, six RBIs and 13 runs, while Russell Crippen is hitting .313 with six doubles, two home runs, 11 RBIs and 13 runs. Braxton Wilks leads the Wildcats with 15 RBIs and Hunter Markwardt has eight stolen bases and 12 runs.
The Wildcats are expected to send righthander Garrett deMeyere (2-4, 4.39 ERA), lefthander Aaron Mason (3-2, 3.82 ERA) and either righthander Kyle Carroll (2-4, 4.36 ERA) or Drew Hanson (1-2, 5.96 ERA) to the hill.
The all-time series between HBU and ACU is tied, 3-3, with the Wildcats taking two-of-three last season and the Huskies claiming two-of-three in 2014. Both series were in Houston.
The Legacy Sports Network audio broadcast with
Russ Reneau begins with the pregame show 15 minutes prior to each first pitch and can be accessed on HBUHuskies.com.
