SUGAR LAND, Tx – The Huskies split the double-header against Northwestern State on Sunday, April 16^th at Constellation Field. HCU won the first game, 14-7, before dropping the second game, 16-5. The Huskies claimed the series, 2-1, after winning game one, 14-13, of the three-game series on Friday, April 14^th.

The Huskies (8-23, 5-4 SLC) were led by freshman catcher/leftfielder Dylan LaRue who went 3-for-6 with two home runs, a double, six RBIs, four runs, and two walks on the day. Senior first baseman Logan Letney went 2-for-3 with a homerun, three RBIs, two runs, and two walks in game one before resting game two. Junior third baseman Reed Chumley went 2-for-6 on the day with a double, three runs, an RBI, and a walk.

Junior right-hander Rye Gunter (1-2) earned the win, pitching 4.1 shutout innings of relief on three hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Graduate student right-hander Walker Zander started game one, pitching 1.2 innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Senior right-hander Will Ripoll (0-2) took the loss in game two, pitching 3.1 innings to start the game allowing 10 runs, five earned runs, on nine hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Freshman right-hander Nolan Wilson pitched 1.1 shutout innings of relief in game two with one hit, two walks, and a strikeout.

The Huskies gave up five runs in the first two innings of game one before scoring four runs in the bottom of the second inning on back-to-back home runs by Logan Letney and Diego Davila. HCU took a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the third inning when Dylan LaRue homered to right field scoring Reed Chumley and William Jewell. The Huskies held the lead for the remainder of the game adding two runs in the bottom of the fourth, and five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning thanks to the Demons pitching struggles.

HCU took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the second inning of game two, when the Huskies posted four runs, starting with a Chumley scoring on a wild pitch before Luke Bard singled to left field scoring Dylan LaRue. Tyler Baker hit a sac fly to center field scoring Damian Ruiz before Bard scored on a Tyler LaRue single up the middle to round out the inning. The Huskies final run of the day came in the bottom of the sixth inning when Dylan LaRue homered to right-center field.

Northwestern State (19-15, 5-4 SLC) were led by Michael Dattalo who went 4-for-9 with two home runs, five RBIs, and three runs. Duante Stuart went 4-for-8 with a grand slam, two doubles, five RBIs, three runs, and a walk. Jake Haze went 3-for-8 with a home run, a double, three runs, two RBIs, and a walk.

Drayton Brown (2-5) took the loss in game one, pitching 2.1 innings to start the game giving up seven earned runs on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Andrew Cossio (1-0) earned the win in game two, pitching two innings of relief with one earned run on one hit with a strikeout.

The Demons got on the board early in game one posting four runs in the top of the first inning when Duante Stuart hit a grand slam scoring Michael Dattalo, Gabe Colaianni, and Jeffrey Elkins. Northwestern State scored another run in the top of the second inning when Dattolo singled through the left side scoring Jacob Farrell. The Demons added another run in the top of the seventh on a Dattalo home run, and their last run of game one in the top of the ninth inning when Gray Rowlett singled up the middle scoring Jake Haze.

Northwestern State posted two runs in the top of the first in game two when Elkins scored on a sac fly off the bat of Dattalo before Colaianni scored on a groundout by Stuart. After HCU took the lead 4-2, the Demons posted six runs in the top of the fourth inning, and five runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 13-4 lead. Northwestern State added two more runs in the top of the fifth when Haze and Bo Willis scored on a double down the left field line by Bailyn Sorenson. The Demons last run of the series came in the top of the seventh inning when Rowlett scored on an infield single.

The Huskies will return to action on Tuesday, April 18^th at 6:30 p.m. against The University of Houston on Don Sanders Field at Darryl & Lori Schroeder Park in Houston, Tx.