SUGAR LAND, Texas – HBU junior first baseman
Grant Buck went 3-for-3 with a pair of home runs, five RBIs and scored four times as the fourth-seeded Huskies run-ruled fifth-seeded Central Arkansas, 14-4 in seven innings, in the first round of the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament Wednesday night at Constellation Field.
Senior second baseman
Jack Fitzgerald also homered, drove in three runs and scored twice, while sophomore third baseman
Elijah Simon went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Huskies (27-28). Senior leftfielder
Spencer Halloran went 2-for-3 with an RBI, scored twice and stole two bases and junior centerfielder
Jonathan Ducoff went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Senior shortstop
Tyler Depreta-Johnson and senior rightfielder
Matt Heck each scored twice.
Senior lefthander
Matthew McCollough (9-3) went the distance for the fifth time this season, allowing four runs, two earned, on seven hits with four strikeouts and no walks in seven innings. It was the ninth complete game of his career, tying him for 10
th all-time in HBU history. McCollough was aided by a pair of defensive gems, one by Heck when he made a leaping catch at the wall and fired back in for a double play, then when Depreta-Johnson made a diving stop up the middle, Fitzgerald grabbed the toss bare-handed and fired to first for another double play – both of which came off the bat of first-team all-conference selection Hunter Strong.
Keaton Presley went 2-for-3, while Coby Potvin singled and drove in a pair for UCA (32-24). Josh Somdecerff drove in a run and scored for the Bears.
Tyler Gray (6-2) was handed his second loss of the season, both of which have come to HBU, giving up eight runs, six earned, on seven hits, three strikeouts and three walks in five innings. Taylor Anders allowed five runs on two hits with three walks in 1.1 innings.
The Huskies got off to a fast start with four runs in the bottom of the first. Depreta-Johnson led off with a walk, reaching safely for a ninth-straight game, then scored on a single by Heck. Halloran and Heck attempted a double steal, but UCA's third baseman couldn't handle the throw, allowing Halloran to score and Heck to go to third. Buck followed with an RBI single, then Simon smacked a double down the third-base line.
Buck blasted a solo home run to right center in the third, then Fitzgerald ripped a three-run homer to left in the fifth, for his fourth of the season.
After UCA got a two-run, bloop single by Potvin in the sixth, Buck answered with a three-run rocket to right, his fourth of the season, to make the score 11-2.
Rigo Aguilar delivered an RBI single, then Somdecerff added a sacrifice fly in the seventh to cut the deficit to 11-4.
HBU then put the game away in the bottom of the inning on back-to-back RBI singles by Ducoff and Halloran, then Ducoff scored on a wild pitch to end the game.
The Huskies hit their league-leading 57
th home run of the season, the most since beginning NCAA Division I play in 2007 and the second-most overall, behind the 1999 squad which hit 67. HBU recorded its second-straight run-rule, after defeating Stephen F. Austin, 13-2 in eight innings, in the regular-season finale Saturday.
HBU will face No. 8 seed New Orleans Thursday at 7 p.m. The Privateers upset top-seeded Sam Houston State, 4-3, in 10 innings.
The Legacy Sports Network audio broadcast with
Russ Reneau begins with the pregame show at 6:50 p.m. and is available on HBUHuskies.com. The game can also be seen on ESPN+. The Huskies will be wearing Santa Fe High School's baseball caps all week, in honor of the 10 victims of last week's shooting at the school 20 miles south of Houston.
