HOUSTON – HBU junior centerfielder
Jonathan Ducoff went 3-for-5 with two home runs, a double, six RBIs and scored three times as the Huskies hammered Stephen F. Austin, 13-2 in eight innings, to sweep the Southland Conference series on Saturday afternoon at Husky Field.
Senior shortstop
Tyler Depreta-Johnson went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI, scored twice and finished conference play without an error in 149 chances for HBU (26-28, 18-12 SLC). Senior second baseman
Jack Fitzgerald went 2-for-3 with a double and scored three times, while sophomore third baseman
Elijah Simon doubled and drove in two runs. Senior catcher
Jake Pulcheon homered and drove in a pair of runs, senior first baseman
Carey Jones homered and senior designated hitter
Matt Heck scored twice.
Junior righthander
Brady Batten (4-6) earned the win, allowing one run on five hits with five strikeouts and four walks in six innings. Senior righthanders
Tanner Luna and
Cameron Copeland tossed an inning apiece.
Jared Martin went 2-for-3 with a triple and scored for SFA (17-36, 9-21), while Manny Vazquez also went 2-for-3. Josh Campbell singled and scored and Jake Georgiades had the Lumberjacks' lone RBI.
Trevor Kiminski (2-6) took the loss, allowing seven runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and four walks in 4.1 innings.
The Huskies jumped out to an early lead and never didn't take their foot off the gas. Depreta-Johnson led off the first with a walk and Ducoff followed with a double off the wall in left. Pulcheon and Heck walked to load the bases and junior rightfielder
Anthony Jones beat out a potential double play to plate another run. Simon then ripped a two-run double to rightcenter to put HBU ahead, 4-0.
Martin tripled to lead off the fourth for SFA and scored when Skylar Black grounded into a double play. HBU got the run back in the bottom half of the inning, when Fitzgerald and Depreta-Johnson smacked back-to-back doubles for a 5-1 lead.
Pulcheon blasted a two-run home run to left, his fourth of the season, and Ducoff rocked a three-run shot in the sixth to extend the Huskies' lead to 10-1.
Jones led off the eighth with a solo shot, his second of the year, then Ducoff ended the game with a two-run homer, tying Heck and senior leftfielder
Spencer Halloran for the team lead with his ninth of the season.
The Huskies finished the regular season with 54 home runs, the most since entering NCAA Division I play in 2007, and the most overall since hitting 56 in 2004.
After tying for third in the league, HBU will be the No. 4 seed at the Southland Conference Tournament at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas, and will face No. 5 seed Central Arkansas Wednesday at 7 p.m. Halloran will represent the Huskies in the league's first-ever Home Run Derby, which is free to the public, Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m.
