CONWAY, Arkansas – HBU rallied for two runs in the top of the ninth, then Central Arkansas left the bases loaded in the bottom half as the Huskies claimed a 5-3 victory in the Southland Conference baseball series opener Saturday afternoon at Bear Stadium.
Senior rightfielder
Matt Heck went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs for the Huskies (13-17, 6-4 SLC), while junior second baseman
Derek Reilly went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run. Senior leftfielder
Spencer Halloran was 2-for-4 and scored and junior centerfielder
Jonathan Ducoff went 2-for-3 with a double and scored.
Junior righthander
Zach Carter turned in another quality start, but took a no-decision after allowing three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and three walks in seven innings. Junior
JT Newton (2-4) picked up the win, while senior
Marshall Herron notched his first career save.
Tyler Smith went 1-for-3 and scored twice for the Bears (17-12, 9-4) and Colby LeBlanc was 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and scored a run. T.J. Black went 2-for-4 with a double, while Rigo Aguilar and William Hancock each drove in runs.
UCA starter Tyler Gray also received a no-decision, allowing three runs on six hits with six strikeouts and two walks in 5.1 innings, but was ejected, along with UCA head coach Allen Gum, when his first pitch after allowing Heck's home run went over the head of Huskies senior first baseman
Jake Pulcheon. Mark Moyer (4-3) shut the Huskies out for three innings in relief, but allowed the two runs in the ninth to take the loss.
The Bears took the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Smith drew a leadoff walk and later scored on Aguilar's bloop single down the rightfield line.
In the sixth, Halloran singled and Reilly walked, then Heck unloaded a three-run, opposite-field blast to right to put the Huskies up 3-1. Heck tied Halloran for the team lead with his sixth homer of the season.
UCA answered on Hancock's two-out RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to cut HBU's lead to 3-2, then tied the game on LeBlanc's two-out RBI single in the seventh.
Senior shortstop
Tyler Depreta-Johnson led off the ninth with a single and went to second on junior catcher
Erik Voller's sacrifice bunt. Ducoff followed with an infield single, but the shortstop's throw skipped past first, allowing Depreta-Johnson to score the go-ahead run. Halloran walked to load the bases, then Reilly laid down a squeeze bunt for a hit to put HBU up 5-3.
Newton walked Hunter Strong to lead off the bottom of the ninth, then hit Josh Somdecerff with a pitch. Herron came in and struck out Smith, but walked Keaton Presley to load the bases. LeBlanc flied out to shallow left, then Herron struck out Aguilar to preserve the win.
The series concludes with a doubleheader Sunday at 11 a.m. The Legacy Sports Network audio broadcast with
Russ Reneau beings at 10:50 with the pregame show and is available on HBUHuskies.com.
