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SB: Huskies back in action over weekend at ACU Tournament

HCU scheduled to play five times in three days



Houston Christian University returns to the diamond this weekend as it plays in the ACU Tournament hosted by Abilene Christian University at Poly Wells Field. The Huskies are scheduled to play five games over the three days, beginning with a 10 am matchup against Marist College on Friday morning.
 
The Huskies are 2-1 after the opening weekend in Montgomery, Alabama at the Stinger Classic hosted by Alabama State University. HCU won their opener 11-6 over Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday before splitting a pair of games on Saturday. A 6-5 loss in eight innings to Western Carolina preceded a 4-3 win over the host Hornets in the second game of the day. The third and final days games versus Mississippi Valley State and Austin Peay were washed out.
 
Keely Castillo leads the Huskies early on, batting .500, while Maddy Bailey had a strong weekend in her first action after sitting out all of last season following shoulder surgery. Bailey batted .444 with four hits including a double and her first homer, walked twice and drove in five runs, which leads the Huskies.
 
Maggie Childs is batting .429 with three RBI and AB Garcia is hitting .364 with four stolen bases and two assists from the outfield on plays at the plate in the win over Alabama State on Saturday. Ronni Grofman (.333) and Jasie Roberts (.300) round out the group of six Huskies batting over .300 in Montgomery.
 
Lyndie Swanson and Grofman each exited the circle with victories in their first appearances of the season. Swanson was the winner on Friday night, as she came on in relief with the Huskies down 5-0 in the first frame to PFW.  She shut the door on the Mastodons the rest of the way, toss 6.1 innings of six-hit relief as the Huskies rallied for an 11-6 win.
On Saturday, Grofman scattered 11 hits and two unearned runs to defeat host ASU and pick up her first dub of the year.
 
The Huskies are scheduled to play five times with some changes already having been made to the times of games due to impending cold weather expected over the next three days.
 
HCU open up each of the first two days of the tournament with Marist College. Hailing from Poughkeepsie, New York, the Red Foxes are members of the MAAC, and this weekend is their first action of the 2024 campaign. HCU and Marist have met once, a 6-5 win for the Foxes in Houston in 2018.
 
Host Abilene will be the opponent twice for HCU, once on Friday and once as the closing contest for the Huskies on Sunday. The two teams have faced off 21 times in total over the years, with 18 of those coming when ACU was also a member of the Southland from 2014-21. The Wildcats hold a 13-8 edge in the all-time series, with the Huskies winning six of the last eight. The two teams last played in 2021, ACU's final year in the SLC, when the Wildcats took two of three in Houston. The tournament hosts opened up the season with five straight losses in the Dr. Diana Natalicio Memorial Tournament played in El Paso and Las Cruces, New Mexico.
 
The Huskies one other game is the back-end of two straight contests on Saturday, when HCU faces the University of New Mexico for the first time ever. The Lobos are 1-6 thus far on the season, going 1-4 playing in Lake Charles and then at the Louisiana Classic in Lafayette, and then dropping two games at UTEP on Valentine's Day.

Houston Christian University will return to action next week, when it travels to #3 ranked Texas on Tuesday before hosting the Husky Classic next weekend. 

   ACU TOURNAMENT at Poly Wells Field - Abilene, Texas   
  • Friday (February 16) – vs. Marist (10 am) / at Abilene Christian (4 pm)
  • Saturday (February 17) – vs. Marist (12 pm) / vs. New Mexico (2:30 pm)
  • Sunday (February 18) – at Abilene Christian (3:30 pm)
#DawgsUp
 
 
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