SUGAR LAND, Texas – HBU junior leftfielder
Spencer Halloran went 5-for-5 with two RBIs and scored a run to pace the Huskies offense in an 8-5 victory to eliminate Lamar from the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament Thursday afternoon at Constellation Field.
Senior rightfielder
Brandon Brintz went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and scored three times, while junior second baseman
Jack Fitzgerald went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and scored twice. Junior first baseman
Jake Pulcheon went 0-for-3, but walked, laid down a sacrifice bunt and drove in a run for the Huskies (27-24).
Sophomore righthander
JT Newton (7-0) earned the win with 4.1 innings of relief, allowing an unearned run on three hits with three strikeouts and a pair of walks. Senior lefthander
Christian Thames took a no-decision, allowing four runs on five hits with a strikeout and three walks in 4.2 innings.
"We definitely did a better job on the mound," HBU head coach
Jared Moon said. "We still had a few walks, but luckily they didn't hurt us. Early in the ballgame, (we gave up a) leadoff walk, that guy ended up scoring, but Thames was able to settle in for four or five strong innings. I thought Newton did a very good job out of the pen."
Grant DeVore went 2-for-3 and scored twice, while Reid Russell went 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and scored for the Cardinals (33-25). Bryndan Arredondo was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, an RBI and a run.
Jimmy Johnson (6-6) took the loss, allowing four runs on seven hits with a strikeout and a walk in 3.1 innings. Galen Andrews then gave up three runs on two hits with two walks in 1.1 innings. Tanner Driskill kept Lamar in the game, allowing one run on three hits with four strikeouts over the final 4.0 innings.
The Huskies wasted no time getting on the board as Brintz laced a double to leftcenter, then scored on an RBI single by Halloran in the top of the first.
The Cardinals answered back in the bottom half when Devore drew a leadoff walk and Russell rapped a double off the wall in left. Devore scored on a groundout by Robin Adames, then Russell came home on Arredondo's sacrifice fly to put Lamar ahead, 2-1.
Fitzgerald led off the third with an infield single, then scored on an RBI single by Brintz to tie the game. Halloran followed with a single, then Pulcheon grounded out to plate Brintz with the go-ahead run.
Senior third baseman
Austin Zillweger led off the fourth with a single and scored all the way from first on Fitzgerald's double off the wall in leftcenter. Halloran reached on an infield single to lead off the fifth, then Pulcheon reached on an error. Junior shortstop
Tyler Depreta-Johnson laid down a sacrifice bunt and Zillweger walked to load the bases. Senior catcher
Blake Thomas lifted a sacrifice fly to center to extend HBU's lead to 5-2.
Three-straight singles in the bottom of the fifth by Vincent Dellecono, DeVore and Russell cut the lead to 5-3, then Adames beat out a potential inning-ending double play to score DeVore and cut the Huskies' advantage to one.
Fitzgerald walked to lead off the sixth, then senior centerfielder
Zane Otten followed with a bunt single. Brintz and Halloran delivered back-to-back RBI singles, then Brintz scored wild pitch to push HBU's lead to 8-4.
Arredondo singled to lead off the eighth for Lamar, then Trey Silvers drew a walk, but Chaneng Varela grounded into a double play. Cole Coker grounded to the shortstop, but Depreta-Johnson's throw pulled Pulcheon off the bag, allowing Arrendono to score the game's final run.
HBU faces the loser of tonight's game between No. 1 seed McNeese and No. 5 seed Central Arkansas Friday at noon, with the winner turning around to play again at 7 p.m.
