HAMMOND, La – The HBU Huskies beat the UIW Cardinals in an elimination game at the end of day two of the Southland Conference Tournament Wednesday night at North Oak Park.
The Huskies got on the board in the bottom of the first inning when
Caitlyn Brockway sent a double to deep right field before advancing to third and then scoring on two passed balls.
The Cardinals answered in the top of the second when Maddie Boldt singled to center field before advancing to second on a passed ball. A ground ball advanced Boldt to third and Ryleigh Mata drove in Boldt on a single through the left side of the infield, tying the game at 1-1.
HBU reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the second though.
Baylee Chandler opened the inning with an infield single and
Justice Palmer sent a laser down the left field line to bring home Chandler all the way from first. Palmer advanced to third on a groundout before scoring on a passed ball.
The Huskies added an insurance run in the bottom of the third. Savage singled to right field and Roberts reached on an error by the second baseman for the Cardinals.
Avery Drake drove in a run on an infield single to extend the HBU lead 4-1.
UIW responded with two runs in the top of the fourth to cut the Husky lead to just one, but the Huskies extended their lead yet again in the bottom half of the innings.
Shelby Echols led off the inning with an infield single before Brockway sent a hard hit single into left field and Savage reached on an infield single to load the bases. Roberts drew a full count walk to bring in a run and Venker sent a double off the left field wall that drove in two and extended the Husky lead 7-3.
HBU capped off the scoring in the bottom of the sixth when Chandler sent a double to left center which deflected off of a diving Cardinal allowing Venker to come around and score from first.
Four Huskies had multi hit game while Venker led in RBIs with two.
Lyndie Swanson picked up the win, throwing a complete game for HBU. She allowed two earned runs on nine hits while striking out three over her seven innings of work.
The Huskies are back in action tomorrow afternoon at 4pm against the winner of Northwestern State and Texas A&M Corpus Christi which will be played at 11am.
