Skip To Main Content

Houston Christian University Athletics

OFFICIAL SITE OF HCU ATHLETICS
HCU ATHLETICS
ESPN Plus Logo
03 - Kaicey Hagler (UH)
Juan DeLeon

SB: Huskies hosts Colonels to start second half of SLC slate

Third-place Nicholls hits Husky Field for three-game series



HCU (15-19, 2-10 SLC) vs. NICHOLLS (22-17, 9-3 SLC) Houston Christian University returns to action on Friday when it begins a three-game Southland Conference series with Nicholls State University at Husky Field. The two teams will play a twi-night double-header on Friday with the series finale on Saturday.
 
The Huskies are coming off a tough week, as they dropped all four games beginning with a 12-10 midweek slugfest loss across town at University of Houston. HCU then traveled to the Alamo City, where they were swept in a three-game series by longtime rival University of the Incarnate Word. After the 14-hit, 10-run outing at UH, the Husky bats went quiet over the weekend, managing just two runs and 14 hits over the three games.
 
Jasie Roberts continues to pace the offense, hitting .361 on the season on a team best 35 hits. She is second on the club in runs scored, doubles and RBI.
 
The senior from Deer Park has been climbing the HCU career leaderboards all season, hitting top 10's in at-bats and hits, and becoming just the ninth player in school history to reach 100 career RBI. She needs six more games played to become the ninth player to reach 200 for a career, and 10 more at-bats makes her the fourth player to reach 600.
 
Haylie Savage's three-ribby outing against Houston allowed her to retake the team lead with 17. She also leads the team in homers (5), doubles (9) and runs scored (28).
 
AB Garcia has continued her recent solid stretch in the batter's box, and has hit safely in 14 her last 16 games, including an 11-game hitting streak that was snapped in the finale of the TAMUCC series.
 
After seeing her average dip to a season low .254 on March 2 following the SFA series, she has raised it to .306, second-best on the squad, by hitting .365 (19-52) over that 16-game stretch.  She has taken over sixth place in career stolen bases with 34, and needs just 10 to moved into second place.
 
Garcia leads the club with eight multi-hit games and her two hits against Houston on Tuesday pushed her over the century mark to 101 hits for her career.  
 
The senior trio of hurlers, Ronni Grofman, Lyndie Swanson and Katy Janes has combined for 13 of HCU's 15 wins. Grofman leads the team at 5-7 with a 2.93 ERA in 11 starts, while Swanson is 4-6 with a 3.55 ERA. Each has tossed 67 innings this season with 50+ strikeouts.
 
Swanson is just the ninth pitcher in school history to hit the 400-inning plateau. She needs just seven more appearances to become the all-time leader and is just 22 punchouts away from the Top 10.
 
Nicholls leads the all-time series with HCU 24-7. The Colonels have won seven of the last 10 meetings, including a season sweep of the Huskies in 2023. NSU won all three games in Thibodaux, then eliminated HCU from the SLC Tournament in Lake Charles. Eight of the last 10 meetings have been one-run affairs, including three of the four matchups one year ago.
 
Currently 22-17 overall, the Colonels are 9-3 and in third place in the Southland. The lineup boasts eight players in double-figure RBI including two, Molly VandenBout and Reagan Helfin, with 20 each. VandenBout hits .316 and is tied for the team home-run lead with Gabby Higbee, each with five. Heflin is second on the club in hitting at .310 and leads the team with 36 hits, while Clair Sisco bats .287 and leads the team with 15 stolen bases. The Colonels are 58-70 in swipes as a team on the year.
 
Audrey McNeil leads the way in the circle with a 9-10 record and 2.20 ERA in 18 starts and 105 innings. Molly Yoo is 6-5 with a 3.11 ERA, while Averi Paden completes the solid trio of hurlers at 6-2 and 3.88 ERA on the year.
 
After the series with Nicholls, the Huskies have one more non-conference game, a Tuesday afternoon affair at Husky Field with former Southland foe Sam Houston State University. HCU will then have three remaining conference series on the docket beginning with a weekend trip to Lake Charles to face three-time defending SLC champion McNeese.

The final home series of the season is the following weekend against Northwestern State before the regular-season culminating trio of games at Texas A&M-Commerce. The Southland Conference Tournament is from May 7-10 hosted by Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond.
 
 
#DawgsUp
 
 
Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Related Stories