NEW ORLEANS, La. – HCU saw a three-run lead disappear in the bottom of the ninth but the Huskies regained the lead in the top of the 11
th to secure an 8-7 extra-inning Southland Conference win over New Orleans on Saturday night at Maestri Field.
The Huskies (11-31, 7-10 SLC) struck in the top of the first with a
Samuel Benjamin solo, two-out, home run to right field opening scoring.
Reed Chumley followed with an opposite field double before
Dylan LaRue reached on an error by the UNO (27-20, 8-9 SLC) first baseman with Chumley advancing to third. LaRue then stole second and
Parker Edwards drove a double down the left field line to bring home to runs and stake HCU to a 3-0 lead. The Privateers came right back in the bottom half of the first with a two-out rally of their own thanks to consecutive doubles off the bats of Tristan Moore and Mitchell Sanford scoring one.
Cash Benavidez led off the second with an infield single, advancing to second on a groundout by
Trent Baker.
Austin Roccaforte then brought Benavidez home with a single up the middle to again push the HCU lead to three, 4-1. In the bottom half, a leadoff walk led to a two-run home run off the bat of Jorge Tejeda for a 4-3 ballgame through two.
The score remained 4-3 until the fifth when the Huskies got a leadoff walk to Roccaforte, who stole second, followed by
Damian Ruiz getting hit by a pitch and a Benjamin single to load the bases with nobody out. Two batters later, LaRue came through with a two-run single through the right side for a 6-3 HCU lead.
The Privateers got one back in the bottom of the seventh after a leadoff hit by pitch quickly followed by a throwing error on a pickoff attempt by reliever
Baylor Baumann that put Kasten Furr on third with nobody out. Furr promptly scored on a single off the bat of Tyler Bischke.
Leading by two going into the ninth, Roccaforte led things off with a single and, with one out, advanced to second on a hard-hit line drive by Benjamin that glanced off the pitcher's glove and was redirected to the second baseman who made the throw to first to get Benjamin. Chumley then stroked a two-out double to the left-center gap to plate Roccaforte and extend the Huskies' lead to 7-4.
In the bottom of the ninth, UNO got its first two batters on with a walk but reliever
Morris Austin answered with a timely strikeout. Miguel Useche drove a double to dead center that brought home one run but a quick throw in from center fielder
Trent Baker allowed HCU to catch the runner between third and home but an errant throw by HCU catcher
Parker Edwards made it all the way to the outfield wall and allowed the runner, and Useche, to come around and tie the game at 7-7.
Roccaforte again set the table in the 11
th with a leadoff double, moving up to third on a balk. After a groundout and an intentional walk to Benjamin, Chumley singled up the middle to score Roccaforte and send HCU into the bottom of the 11
th with an 8-7 lead.
Matthew Charles started the inning off with a strikeout before walking the next batter and recording out number two on a flyball out to center. He then hit a batter and walked the next to load the bases with two outs. Charles came up with a big strikeout of Dylan Mach on a full count to close out the win.
The win in relief moves Charles to 2-1 on the season with the senior tossing two scoreless innings.
Jarek Wells started the game for HCU, throwing three and a third innings with three earned runs allowed. Baumann pitched two and two-third innings with one unearned run allowed while
Chad Ricker also recorded two innings on the mound without allowing a hit.
Roccaforte ended the night 3-for-5 at the plate with three runs scored and an RBI while Chumley also had a three-hit night with two doubles, driving in two and scoring once. Chumley now has eight multi-hit games in the last 15 contests. Benjamin and D. LaRue each had two hits.
HCU and UNO wrap up their three-game Southland series on Sunday, May 7, afternoon at 1:00 p.m. at Maestri Field.
