SAN ANTONIO – HBU spotted
Christian Thames a 3-0 lead, then the senior lefthander took it from there, shutting out Incarnate Word to lead the Huskies to their fifth-straight win, 6-0, in the second game of the Southland Conference series Saturday at Sullivan Field.
Thames (6-1) went the distance, allowing seven hits, with a strikeout and two walks. He recorded his second shutout of the year, after blanking Southeastern Louisiana, 4-0, on March 25.
Junior first baseman
Jake Pulcheon went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, three RBIs and scored for the Huskies (19-15, 11-6 SLC), while sophomore second baseman
Kendrick Holmes went 3-for-5 with two stolen bases. Senior centerfielder
Zane Otten went 2-for-5 and scored a run, while senior rightfielder
Brandon Brintz went 2-for-3, with two walks and scored. Senior catcher
Blake Thomas went 2-for-4 and junior shortstop
Tyler Depreta-Johnson doubled, drove in a run and scored to extend his hitting streak to 14 games.
Junior leftfielder
Spencer Halloran singled, drove in a run and scored twice, while junior designated hitter
Matt Heck tripled and scored for HBU.
Bernie Martinez (3-3) took the loss for UIW (16-23, 5-12), allowing three runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and four walks in 6.0 innings. Four relievers combined to pitch the final three innings.
Mark Whitehead was the only Cardinal to record multiple hits, going 2-for-4. All seven of UIW's hits were singles.
Otten and Brintz led off the game with back-to-back singles, then Halloran drove in a run with a single. Pulcheon followed with a two-run double off the wall in left to give HBU a 3-0 advantage.
Martinez held the Huskies scoreless over the next five, then Cody Allen and Ramon Salazar each pitched a scoreless inning for the Cardinals.
Brintz singled to lead off the ninth, but was forced out at second on Halloran's sacrifice bunt attempt. Halloran stole second, then scored on Pulcheon's RBI single up the middle. Depreta-Johnson doubled off the wall in left to plate another run, then Heck followed with an RBI triple to rightcenter to extend the Huskies' lead to 6-0.
The series concludes with a 1 p.m. first pitch Sunday. The Legacy Sports Network audio broadcast with
Russ Reneau begins at 12:45 with the pregame show and is available on HBUHuskies.com.
