HOUSTON – After coughing up a four-run lead, HBU battled back to tie Incarnate Word in the ninth, then senior first baseman/catcher
Jake Pulcheon delivered a walkoff single in the 13
th inning for a 7-6 victory to sweep the three-game Southland Conference series Saturday afternoon at Husky Field.
Pulcheon went 2-for-5, drove in a pair of runs and scored for the Huskies (19-21, 12-6 SLC), while senior leftfielder/first baeman
Spencer Halloran went 3-for-6 and scored the game-winning run. Junior centerfielder
Jonathan Ducoff homered and drove in a pair and sophomore third baseman
Elijah Simon singled and scored twice.
Senior righthander
Matt Heck (4-1), who started the game in right field, picked up the win, holding UIW scoreless on three hits with three strikeouts and a walk over the final four innings. He also went 1-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to eight games. Starter
Brady Batten allowed three runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and two walks in 5.2 innings.
Ryan Gonzalez doubled and drove in three runs for UIW (25-16, 10-8), while Ryan Flores went 2-for-5 with a double and scored twice. Lee Thomas was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and drove in two, Kyle Bergeron went 2-for-6 and scored and Ridge Rogers went 2-for-7 and scored.
Jenner Jackson (1-2) took the loss, allowing one run on two hits in the 13
th. Starter Bernie Martinez allowed five runs on eight hits with eight strikeouts and two walks in 7.2 innings, while Cody Allen gave up one run on one hit with four strikeouts in 4.1 innings of relief.
The Huskies loaded the bases in the bottom of the first and scored a run when Pulcheon was hit by a pitch. Simon was hit by a pitch to lead off the second and scored on senior shortstop
Tyler Depreta-Johnson's RBI groundout to put HBU ahead 2-0.
Junior catcher
Erik Voller beat on an infield single in the third, then Ducoff blasted a two-run shot to left, his sixth of the season, to extend the Huskies' lead to 4-0.
Rogers led off the sixth with a bunt single for UIW and Eddy Gonzalez followed with a single to left. David Anaya lifted a sacrifice fly to right, then Thomas came through with a two-run single to cut HBU's lead to 4-3.
The Cardinals loaded the bases in the seventh and Ryan Gonzalez cleared them with a double to put UIW on top, 6-4.
Pulcheon singled with two outs an no one on in the eighth and went to second on a wild pitch, then pinch hitter
Grant Buck ripped an RBI double down the rightfield line to pull the Huskies within one.
Simon singled to lead off the ninth, went to second on senior second baseman
Jack Fitzgerald's sacrifice bunt and took third on junior designated hitter
Jake Scott's deep fly out to center for the second out. After Depreta-Johnson fell behind 0-2, Allen uncorked a wild pitch, which allowed Simon to score the tying run.
Allen and Heck traded scoreless frames, then Jackson took over for UIW in the 13
th. Halloran led off with a bloop single to right and went to second on Heck's sacrifice bunt. Pulcheon then hit a nearly identical bloop single to right and Halloran strolled home with the game winner.
The Huskies return to action with a non-conference matchup against Southland foe Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Corpus Christi. The Legacy Sports Network audio broadcast with
Russ Reneau begins with the pregame show 10 minutes prior to the first pitch and is available on HBUHuskies.com.
