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2017 SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
First Round: No. 4 HBU Huskies (26-23) vs. No. 5 Central Arkansas Bears (31-24)
Wednesday, May 24 – 7 p.m.
Constellation Field - Sugar Land, Texas
 
Audio (Russ Reneau)
ESPN3
Live Stats
Game Notes
 
Tickets
Bracket
 
SUGAR LAND, Texas - Fourth-seeded HBU will open the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament with a first-round matchup against fifth-seeded Central Arkansas Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Constellation Field. The Legacy Sports Network audio broadcast with Russ Reneau will begin at 6:45 with the pregame show and is available on HBUHuskies.com.
 
Senior centerfielder Zane Otten leads the Huskies (26-23) with a .327 batting average and 17 stolen bases to go with six doubles, three triples, 16 RBIs and 33 runs. Junior shortstop Tyler Depreta-Johnson is hitting .322 with six doubles, a triple, a home run, 22 RBIs and 31 runs, while junior leftfielder Spencer Halloran is hitting .314 with 12 doubles, four triples, three home runs, 29 RBIs and 40 runs. Senior rightfielder Brandon Brintz is hitting .301 with 13 doubles, a triple, a home run, 25 RBIs and 37 runs, and junior first baseman Jake Pulcheon is hitting .286 with eight doubles, a triple, three home runs, 33 RBIs and 22 runs.
 
Senior righthander Addison Russ (2-5, 2.92 ERA) is likely to start the first-round game, followed by senior lefthander Christian Thames (7-4, 3.84 ERA). Should the Huskies advance further, sophomore righthander Daniel Endsley (2-2, 3.30 ERA) would likely get a starting nod. Sophomore righthander JT Newton has made 21 appearances, going 6-0 with six saves, a 2.30 ERA, 40 strikeouts and 11 walks in 84.1 innings and sophomore righthander Zach Carter has gone 6-3 with a save, a 3.03 ERA, 43 strikeouts and 20 walks in 62.1 innings.
 
UCA (31-24) finished a game behind HBU and held the tiebreaker over Stephen F. Austin to earn the five seed. The Bears are led by Hunter Strong, who is hitting .359 with 23 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 44 RBIs and 47 runs. Keaton Presley is hitting .293 with 16 doubles, four triples, three home runs, 49 RBIs and 56 runs.
 
The Bears will likely start righthander Tyler Gray (5-6, 4.02 ERA) against the Huskies. Brandon Hagerla (8-3, 3.41 ERA) has made most of his appearances out of the bullpen, while Ty Tice (2-2, 4.80 ERA) leads UCA with seven saves.
 
UCA won two of the three meetings over HBU in Houston this season. The Bears won the opener, 4-3, then the Huskies evened the series with a 5-3, before UCA took the finale by a 17-4 score. HBU has lost four of the last six to UCA, but still leads the all-time series, 7-4.
 
HBU is making its second appearance at the tournament in its fourth season in the league. The Huskies won the 2015 Southland Conference Tournament behind an NCAA-record four consecutive complete games by its starting pitchers. By earning the league's automatic bid, HBU made its first-ever NCAA postseason appearance at the Houston Regional.
 
The Huskies will face either No. 1 McNeese or No. 8 Lamar Thursday.