HOUSTON – HBU pounded out 15 hits for a 12-4 victory in game one, then senior lefthander
Matthew McCollough hurled a shutout for a 1-0 decision in game two, as the Huskies swept Incarnate Word in a Southland Conference doubleheader Friday afternoon at Husky Field.
In the first game, junior righthander
Zach Carter (3-3) threw 130 pitches, allowed four runs on 11 hits with a career-high 11 strikeouts and no walks in 8.1 innings, while senior righty
Weston Smart came in and nailed down the final two outs for the Huskies (18-21, 11-6 SLC).
Senior rightfielder
Matt Heck went 2-for-4 with a triple, three RBIs and scored twice and senior shortstop
Tyler Depreta-Johnson went 3-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and scored twice. Junior designated hitter
Anthony Jones was 3-for-4, drove in a pair and scored twice, while senior second baseman
Jack Fitzgerald went 2-for-2 with a triple and scored three times. Sophomore third baseman
Elijah Simon went 2-for-4 with a double and scored twice.
Tyler Miller (3-3) took the loss for the Cardinals (25-15, 10-7), giving up eight runs on 11 hits with four strikeouts and a walk in six innings.
Eddy Gonzalez went 2-for-5 with a home run, an RBI and scored, while Ryan Flores went 2-for-4 and drove in a run. Kyle Bergeron added a solo home run, going 1-for-3.
Bergeron put UIW up 1-0, homering down the leftfield line in the top of the first.
HBU tied it in the second when Heck led off with a single, stole second and scored on junior centerfielder
Jonathan Ducoff's single to leftcenter.
In the third, Gonzalez hit a fly ball to center, but Ducoff slipped, which allowed the ball to go all the way to the wall and Gonzalez went all the way around for an inside-the-park home run and a 2-1 lead for the Cardinals.
The Huskies answered in the third, as Simon led off the inning with a double to center and scored on a singled by Jones to tie the game, 2-2.
With two outs and nobody on, HBU rallied for five runs in the bottom of the fifth. Fitzgerald and Jones had back-to-back singles, then Depreta-Johnson blooped a double to center to put the Huskies ahead. Halloran walked to load the bases, then Heck's fly ball down the rightfield line could not be handled cleanly on a diving attempt, which ended up as a bases-clearing triple to extend HBU's lead to 6-2. Heck then scored on a wild pitch to cap the inning.
Fitzgerald triple to rightcenter in the sixth and scored on Jones's sacrifice fly to make the score 8-2.
UIW got a pair of infield RBI singles from Shea Gutierrez and Flores to cut its deficit to 8-4.
HBU responded with four runs in the eighth, with Depreta-Johnson delivering a two-run single, Jones scored on a passed ball and senior leftfielder
Spencer Halloran plated the final run of the game with an RBI single to put the Huskies ahead, 12-4.
In the second game, McCollough (6-1) went the distance for his sixth career complete game and the first shutout of his career. He held the Cardinals scoreless on four hits with six strikeouts and no walks on 113 pitches. He also moved up to fifth all-time HBU in strikeouts and recorded his 20
th career victory to move into fifth place all-time.
Heck went 4-for-4 with a double and drove in the only run of the game, with Halloran scoring the lone tally.
Luke Taggart (4-3) took the loss, allowing one unearned run on six hits with five strikeouts and no walks in seven innings, while Jenner Jackson held HBU scoreless in one inning of work.
Ridge Rogers went 2-for-4 for the Cardinals.
In the first inning, Halloran reached on an error by shortstop Ryan Gonzalez and also took second on the play. Heck followed with a single to right to put the Huskies ahead 1-0.
HBU loaded the bases with two outs in the second, but failed to plate a run.
UIW got a leadoff single from David Anaya in the seventh, then he stole second after Flores flied out. McCollough struck out Lee Thomas for the second out, then Ryan Gonzalez hit a chopper to the left side, but Simon knocked the ball out of the hands of Depreta-Johnson to put runners on the corners. The Cardinals attempted a double steal, but Anaya was tagged out at the plate to end the threat.
McCollough then set down the Cardinals in order over the final two innings to complete the sweep.
The series concludes with a 1 p.m. first pitch Saturday, but there is a threat of rain, so please check HBUHuskies.com and Twitter, @HBUHuskies and @HBUHuskiesBSB, for any updates to the schedule. The YouTube video broadcast with
Russ Reneau begins with the pregame show 10 minutes prior to the first pitch and is available on HBUHuskies.com.
