HOUSTON, Texas – The Huskies win game two against McNeese, 4-2, of the conference home opening series at Husky Field on Saturday, April 1
st.
The Huskies (4-21, 2-3 SLC) were led by junior center fielder
Samuel Benjamin who went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Freshman left fielder
Trent Baker continues his hitting streak going 2-for-5 with a run while freshman right fielder
Damian Ruiz went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Freshman third baseman
Cash Benavidez went 1-for-3 with two runs and a walk.
Graduate student right-hander
Walker Zander (1-3) earned the win, pitching six innings to start the game, with two earned runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Senior right-hander
Javan Smitherman captured the save, pitching one inning of relief with a hit and a walk. Senior right-hander
Morris Austin pitched a shutout eighth inning of relief with two strikeouts while junior right-hander
Rye Gunter pitched a shutout inning of relief with a walk and a hit.
The Huskies got on the board early when
Samuel Benjamin scored on an RBI walk from
Austin Roccaforte in the bottom of the first inning. HCU added two more runs in the bottom of the second inning starting with
Cash Benavidez scoring on a wild pitch before
Trent Baker scored on a singled to left field by Benjamin. The Huskies last run came in the bottom of the sixth inning when Benavidez scored on a throwing error by the Cowboy's shortstop Josh Leslie.
McNeese (18-9, 2-3 SLC) were led by Brad Burckel who went 3-for-4 with a run, a walk, and a stolen base. Cooper Hext went 2-for-5 with a run while Tre Obregon III went 1-for-5 with two RBIs.
Derrick Cherry (3-1) took the loss, allowing three earned runs on five hits with three walks to start the game for the Cowboys. McNeese used three pitchers in game two.
The Cowboys scored their only two runs in the top of the third inning when Tre Obregon singled through the right-side scoring Cooper Hext and Brad Burckel.
The three-game series against McNeese will conclude on Sunday, April 2
nd at Husky Field at 2 p.m. with
Will Ripoll (0-1) expected to get the start.
Live stats for the game will be available on HCUHuskies.com. The games will also be available to watch on ESPN+.