HOUSTON – After playing its first two tournaments of the season in Louisiana, the HCU softball team is set to take part in the Houston Tournament across town at the University of Houston Cougar Softball Stadium with four games from Thursday through Sunday
The Huskies (8-3) open the tournament against the host Cougars (6-4) on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 5:30 p.m. On Friday, Feb. 24, they take on Pitt (6-3) at 10:00 a.m. before facing Illinois (5-4) on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 3:00 p.m. HCU will then close out the tournament against former Southland Conference rival Sam Houston (5-6) at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26.
HCU won four of five games at the Mardi Gras Mambo last weekend with the sole loss a 4-3 decision vs. St. Thomas (MN). The game ended in six innings due to a drop-dead time. When time ran out, the Huskies were trailing by two with a runner on base and nobody out.
The Huskies' pitching staff has shone bright so far this season with a 1.22 team ERA that ranks 11
th-best in the nation. Junior
Lyndie Swanson owns a miniscule 0.36 ERA and three wins and junior
Katy Janes has racked up four wins.
At the plate, HCU is hitting .321 with sophomore
AB Garcia leading the way with a .485 average and junior
Kaicey Hagler not far behind at .440. Garcia is tied for seventh in the country with nine stolen bases. Hagler, meanwhile, is tied for the Southland Conference lead with 13 RBI.
The Cougars went 3-2 last weekend, winning games against Hofstra and Morgan State while dropping two against No. 12 Washington. In the circle, senior Kenna Wilkey has pitched half of the team's innings and owns a 3-3 record with a 3.20 ERA and two shutouts. At the plate, sophomore Turiya Coleman is batting .485 to lead the team. Coleman also has a team-high eight runs scored and a .727 slugging percentage. Sophomore infielder Ja'Naiya Thomas is batting .429 with a team-high five stolen bases.
The Pitt Panthers spent the first two weekends of the season playing tournaments in Florida with a signature win coming over No. 21 Auburn. The Panthers are batting .341 as a team with senior infielder Sarah Seamans hitting .500 while fellow senior Yvonne Whaley batted .727 last weekend in three games, totaling three doubles and five RBI. Senior Abby Edwards leads the Pitt pitching staff with a 4.30 ERA and a 2-1 record.
The Illini won three out of four last weekend, defeating Louisville twice before splitting two games against Georgia Tech. Senior outfielder Kelly Ryono leads Illinois in runs scored, with six, and RBI, with seven, while batting .281. Senior infielder Avrey Steiner leads the team with a .354 batting average. Senior Sydney Sickles and junior Tori McQueen sport identical 2.58 ERAs and have combined to pitch 40.2 innings out of the team's 60 innings played. Sickels has recorded 32 strikeouts in 21.2 innings.
Sam Houston snapped a three-game losing streak this past Tuesday, earning a 7-5 win on the road at Prairie View. Junior Ellie Grill is hitting .429 with a team-best eight runs scored while junior Kylie Hobbs and sophomore Brodie Quinlan share the team-lead with eight RBI. Senior Emma Guindon leads the Bearkats' pitching staff with a 4.20 ERA with seniors Regan Dunn and Daryn Grams each earning two wins in the circle.
HCU heads back to Louisiana to play four games at the LA Tech Invitational in Ruston, La. on Mar. 4-5.
