HOUSTON - After an ugly loss in game one, HBU rebounded with a 5-1 victory in game two to split with Abilene Christian in a Southland Conference doubleheader Friday afternoon at Husky Field.
After ACU pounded out 20 hits in the opener, HBU senior righthander
Brady Batten (2-3) shut out the Wildcats through seven innings and picked up the win, allowing one run on four hits with seven strikeouts and four walks in 7.1 innings, throwing 126 pitches. Senior closer
JT Newton hurled 1.2 perfect innings, striking out two, to notch his fourth save of the season. He is now tied for second all-time at HBU with 15 career saves.
Junior rightfielder
Brandon Bena extended his hitting streak to 14 games, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and scored a run, while junior shortstop
Nathan Soriano went 2-for-3 with a walk and scored for the Huskies (11-23, 4-10 SLC). Junior second baseman
Hayden Baker singled and drove in a pair.
Brock Barger (2-4) took the loss for ACU, giving up three runs on four hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 4.2 innings.
Dalon Farkas provided the only offense for the Wildcats with a solo home run, his second of the day, while Batten held the rest of the lineup to three singles.
Soriano doubled to lead off the bottom of the first for the Huskies, then junior third baseman
Trent Franson followed with and RBI single. Bena then came through with an RBI single to put HBU ahead, 2-0.
The Huskies tacked on a run in the fifth when junior centerfielder
Chase Talbot walked, Soriano followed with a single and junior first baseman
Johnny Gonzales smacked an RBI single up the middle for a three-run lead.
Farkas hit a solo homer to leftcenter in the eighth, then Batten walked Luis Trevino and was lifted from the game. Newton got Derek Scott to hit into a double play to end the inning.
HBU answered in the bottom half, when Baker's two-out, two runs single extended the Huskies' lead to 5-1. Newton set down the Wildcats in order, striking out Ryne Randle and Collin Chaney to end the game.
In the first game, ACU scored six in the fifth and seven in the sixth en route to a 21-6 win.
Bena went 2-for-5 with a double and three RBIs, while Soriano went 1-for-5 and drove in a pair. Junior leftfielder
Ryne Edmondson, Talbot and junior second baseman
Cal Clark each had two hits, with Clark driving in and scoring a run.
Senior righthander
Zach Carter (3-5) took the loss, allowing nine runs, seven earned, on 10 hits in 4.1 innings.
Derek Scott went 3-for-6 with a double, two RBIs and two runs, Trevino went 3-for-6 with two RBIs and two runs and Farkas went 2-for-6 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs. Riley Donahue was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and scored three times, Colton Eager was 1-for-3 with two RBI and scored twice, while Dalton Dunn went 2-for-2 with two walks and scored all four times.
Spencer Chirpich (5-2) earned the win, allowing one run on three hits with three strikeouts and a walk in five innings. Drew Hanson threw three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out three to pick up a save.
The series concludes with a 1 p.m. first pitch Saturday, but rain is expected in the area. A determination on whether to postpone the game to Sunday will not be made until Saturday afternoon, so keep checking on
HBUHuskies.com and the @HBUHuskies and @HBUHuskiesBSB Twitter handles for any changes to the schedule.
