HOUSTON – HBU pounded out a season-high 19 hits, putting up crooked numbers in four separate frames, for a 13-3, run-rule victory over Northwestern State in seven innings in the Southland Conference series finale Saturday afternoon at Husky Field.
Senior rightfielder
Brandon Brintz went 3-for-4 with a double, three runs and an RBI, while senior centerfielder
Zane Otten went 3-for-4 with a double and scored a run for the Huskies (22-17, 14-7 SLC). Junior leftfielder
Spencer Halloran was 2-for-3, scored three times and drove in a run, while junior first baseman
Jake Pulcheon went 2-for-4 with a triple, scored twice and drove in a run. Junior shortstop
Tyler Depreta-Johnson and senior third baseman
Austin Zillweger each drove in a pair, as each HBU starter had a hit and eight of the nine posted multiple hits.
Sophomore righthander
Zach Carter (5-3) picked up the win in relief, pitching 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, striking out five and walking two. Sophomore starter
Daniel Endsley left with an injury after 3.1 innings, giving up three runs on four hits with three strikeouts and two walks.
Cade Jones, Kwan Adkins and Emile Lege each doubled for NSU (16-27, 6-15), with Lege and Caleb Ricca each driving in a run.
Cullen McDonald (0-2) took the loss for the Demons, allowing two runs on five hits in 1.2 innings, then Kyle Swanson gave up eight runs on 11 hits in 3.1 innings.
Junior designated hitter
Matt Heck's second-inning double put runners in scoring position for Zillweger, who delivered a two-run single for a 2-0 Huskies lead. The Demons answered with a run in the top of the third on a bases-loaded wild pitch by Endsley.
HBU scored three more in the bottom of the third on a Depreta-Johnson sacrifice fly, a throwing error on a double steal and an RBI single by Heck. NSU came back with two in fourth on an RBI groundout by Lege and an RBI single by Ricca. Ricca's single was a line drive back to the mound off of Endsley's arm that took him out of the game.
The Huskies put the game away with five runs in the fourth as Brintz and Halloran came through with back-to-back RBI singles and Brintz scored on a wild pitch. Pulcheon blasted an RBI triple to center, then scored on a single by Depreta-Johnson to extend HBU's lead to 10-3.
Otten singled to lead off the sixth, then Brintz doubled to leftcenter and Halloran walked to load the bases with no outs. All three runners scored on wild pitches to make the score 13-3.
The Huskies, who have won eight of their last nine Southland Conference games, will play their final non-conference game in a matchup against 19
th-ranked Texas A&M Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. at Blue Bell Park in College Station.
