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MOBILE, Ala. – Freshman catcher Heidi Jaquez was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate and the HBU softball team moved to 2-0 at the season-opening Sand Dollar Classic after beating Alabama State 8-3 on Saturday morning.
 
The game remained scoreless through the first two and a half innings until the Huskies broke the tie with a three-run third. Jaquez reached on a one-out single and Demi Janak followed with a two-run blast to left for her first home run of the season. The next three HBU batters reached to load the bases and Cecilia Bauer singled home Nicole Shedd for the final run of the inning.
 
The Hornets answered in the fourth with a Perry Hindi double to lead off the inning. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Hindi scored on a Kendall Core single. The Huskies came back in the bottom half of the inning Libby Brown drew a leadoff walk, followed by a Jaquez double and a Janak walk, loading the bases with no outs. After a Shedd grounder back to the pitcher led to an out at the plate, Kassie James dropped a sacrifice bunt to bring Brown home and reached first on an error, keeping the bases full. Bauer also earned her second RBI of the game with a two-out walk, forcing home Janak.
 
HBU continued to build its lead in the fifth with a run on a Jaquez single that brought home Kay Schroeder after Schroeder reached on a leadoff walk. Alabama State plated a pair of runs in the sixth thanks to a Charlene Castro two-run homer.
 
With a 6-3 lead, the Huskies picked up a pair of insurance runs in the sixth. James led off with a double to center before a Megan Hiers single put two runners on with no outs. Hiers advanced to second on a wild pitch before Bauer hit a sacrifice fly to center to bring James across the plate. A Brooke Bushman groundout to second moved Hiers over to third, putting her in position to score on a two-out wild pitch and give the Huskies a five-run advantage.
 
Jaquez, now batting .714 (5-for-7) for the year, was 4-for-4 with a double. She scored a pair of runs and drove in one. Janak was 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBI. James went 2-for-2 with a double, one RBI and one run scored while Bauer drove in three.
 
Stephanie Buenrostro (1-0) earned the win in the circle in her first start as a Husky. The junior went five and a third innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits while walking three. Emily Mueller finished off the game, earning her first save of the year, throwing the final one and two-thirds innings and allowing zero runs and a pair of hits.
 
HBU concludes its double-header on Saturday against the host Jaguars of South Alabama at 12:30 p.m.