Tournament Central
HUNTSVILLE – The HBU women's softball team will open the 2022 season Friday morning when they take part in the Bearkat Classic. Schools from across the nation will be participating, including Dayton, South Dakota and Wichita.
The Huskies (0-0, 0-0, SLC) will open play against Dayton at 10 a.m. before playing South Dakota in their second game of the double header. The rest of the tournament schedule can be found on the tournament homepage.
Coming into 2022, the Huskies had five players named to the first and second team preseason All-Conference teams.
Caitlyn Brockway,
Lyndie Swanson, and
Jasie Roberts were named to the Southland Preseason All-Conference First Team, while
Shelby Echols and
Autumn Sydlik were named to the Preseason All-Conference Second Team.
The Huskies finished the 2021 season with a record of 22-17. They lost to the Sam Houston State Bearkats in the first round of the Southland tournament prior to their departure from the conference.
Roberts leads all returners with a .336 batting average in 2021, including 42 hits, eight doubles, five home runs, while driving in 29 RBI's. Echols and Brockway are just a handful of points behind Roberts, with a .328 and .325 batting averages respectively. Sydlik led all of HBU in home runs, with nine, followed by Brockway who smacked eight long balls. Brockway led all Huskies in RBI's with 33 with Sydlik close behind at 31.
In the circle, Swanson returns having thrown 89.1 innings for the Huskies in 2021 while posting a 1.25 ERA with a 9-3 record, which included 58 strikeouts to just 38 walks. Sara Venker threw 36.2 innings for HBU posting a 3.63 ERA while putting together a 3-1 record.
This will be the first time that HBU has faced off against Dayton, South Dakota, and Wichita State. The Huskies have a 6-25 overall record against the Bearkats, and have split the last four matchups overall.
The Huskies will play their first game on Husky Field next Tuesday night when they host Texas Southern.
