HCU Huskies (19-22, 8-7 SLC) vs Lamar Cardinals (12-30, 5-10 SLC)
Coming off a 4-2 homestand, HCU begins the stretch run of conference play as it travels to Beaumont to face Lamar University in a three-game Southland series.
The Huskies took three games from Texas A&M-Commerce early in the week, then broke Southeastern Louisiana's 12-game winning streak in that series finale on Saturday.
HCU won the opener over Commerce 17-3 behind an 18-hit outburst.
AB Garcia notched four hits, while
Kaicey Hagler,
Haylie Savage and
Hadlee Tomczak each homered. For Tomczak it was her first career dinger. Savage and Hagler were half of a group who drove in three runs, joined by
Jasie Roberts and
Ronni Grofman.
The Huskies won the nightcap in walk-off fashion, making a winner out of
Lyndie Swanson's complete game gem. Grofman singled to center to drive Hagler to third, and she would then race to the plate on an errant throw from center for the 2-1 victory.
The series sweep was completed as Grofman tossed a complete game in her first start since March 10, and Drake posted four hits and three RBI in the 8-6 capper.
Southeastern, second in the league behind McNeese, would take Friday's twin-bill, before Grofman and Drake teamed up again as they had earlier in the week. Grofman again went the distance and Drake collected four hits for the second time on the homestand, as HCU ended the Lions 12-game winning streak by taking the series finale.
The Huskies are now 19-22 overall and stand tied with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 8-7 in conference action with three Southland series left in the regular season, including this weekend.
HCU is led at the plate by
AB Garcia, whose team-best .431 batting average also ranks first in the Southland. She also leads the team with 35 runs and 18 stolen bases.
Haylie Savage is batting .341 with a .930 OPS and leads the team with seven homers and 38 RBI, which is second in the SLC.
An 11-20 week at the plate, which included a couple of four-hit outings, pushed
Avery Drake's season batting average to its highest mark since February 23. She is now second on the team in both batting average (.343) and stolen bases (15).
Autumn Sydlik is second on the team with four homers, while
Kaicey Hagler and
Jasie Roberts continue to drive in runners at 23 and 20 apiece, respectively.
Grofman's two-dub week pushed her overall mark to 5-2 and she now leads the team with a 3.03 ERA.
Katy Janes is just behind her at 3.04 and a 6-9 mark, while
Lyndie Swanson leads the team in victories with an 8-6 overall mark.
Lamar comes into the weekend having lost two of three in each of its last two Southland series, including this past weekend to the Islanders in Corpus Christi.
Sam Bean, a junior catcher from Rockwall, leads the Cardinals in most categories, including batting average (.331), OPS (1.023), homers (6) and runs (25).
Grad infielder Kaylee Ancelot from Orangefiled is hitting at a .319 clip with team-highs of 11 doubles and 29 RBI.
Aaliyah Ruiz and Karyana Mitchell post very similar numbers in the circle to pace the pitching staff.
Ruiz, a grad right-hander from Beevile, is 5-11 overall with a 4.36 ERA and 56 K's in 85 innings, while Mitchell, a junior right-hander from Palm Bay, Florida, is 5-10 with a 4.37 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 85.1 IP.
This weekend marks the first Southland series for the two since the 2021 season, as Lamar was a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in 2022.
The Cardinals defeated HCU 9-1 in Beaumont last year in the only meeting between the two schools, which snapped a three-game winning streak in the series for the Huskies. LU leads the all-time series 18-5.
The two teams will play twice on Friday followed by the series finale on Saturday. A minor change to the schedule, as the twin-bill will be played at 3 pm and 5 pm Friday. First pitch on Saturday remains the same at 12 noon.
All three games can be seen live on ESPN+, or you can follow on LIVE STATS or inning-by-inning updates on
@HCUSoftball twitter.
