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18 - Herrera (Penn)
Juan DeLeon

SB: HCU opens campaign with four games in two days at Husky Field

Huskies take on St. John's, New Mexico twice and ULM over weekend in only home games until March 14



OPENING WEEKEND
  • Friday – February 7, 2025
            10 am 🆚 St. John's 
              1 pm 🆚 New Mexico
  • Saturday – February 8, 2025
            10 am 🆚 New Mexico
              1 pm 🆚 UL-Monroe  
Houston Christian University begins its 2025 season with four games over two days at Husky Field as part of a larger tournament co-hosted with University of Houston and Lamar University. The Huskies will face St. John's University and University of New Mexico on Friday, followed by a second game with New Mexico and a contest against University of Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday. Both days games are scheduled for 10 am and 1 pm starts.
 
Mary-Ellen Hall returns for her 34th season in the dugout of her alma mater. HCU returns just nine players off last year's 23-27 club that advanced to the Southland Conference Tournament and also handed Hall her 900th career victory. HCU welcomes an 11-player recruiting class that features five transfers and six rookies.
 
Tournaments over three straight weekends follow the home opening quartet of games, the only home games until March 14-15, when the ladies return home to host Southeastern Louisiana in a three-game SLC series. HCU will play 19 straight games away from home, taking part in Tarleton State Whataburger Classic, the ULM Warhawk Invitational and finally the Mardi Gras Mambo in Youngsville, Louisiana before firing up Southland play at Northwestern State on March 7-8.
 
The 50-game slate features 17 home games, the four to start the season, a mid-season tilt against cross-town foe Texas Southern and four three-game conference series against Southeastern, Incarnate Word, McNeese and East Texas A&M. The Huskies will play 27 Southland games, up from 24 a year ago coinciding with the return of Stephen F. Austin State University to the conference.
 
Haylie Savage, AB Garcia and Karlie Barba were selected to the Southland Conference Preseason All-Conference teams last Thursday, as the league announced those accolades as well as the preseason poll for 2025. HCU was picked to finish seventh in the league.
 
It is the third straight season Savage has earned preseason honors and second in a row for Garcia, while Barba was selected preceding her first campaign with the Huskies. Savage was named as a second-team utility player, Garcia as a second-team outfielder and Barba as the second team designated player.
 
Savage is a three-time All-Southland selection who is quickly approaching the top ten in several of the major hitting categories, while Garcia as a first-team selection and SLC Freshman of the Year in 2023 who ranks fifth in career stolen bases. Barba was a NJCAA All-American at Galveston College last year.
 
That trio is joined by seniors Maddy Bailey, Breana Herrera and Keely Castillo, who returns after sitting out last year with a medical redshirt. Junior pitcher Addy Prasifka is one of just two hurlers remaining from last year, along with sophomore Kynleigh Evans. Sophomore catcher Heidi Maytum and sophomore infielder Mackenzie Morris, who also sat out with a medical redshirt last year, round out the returners.
 
The Huskies brought in 11 new faces after losing 11 seniors. Barba is one of two Galveston College transfers along with Ella Herrewig, and two more junior college transfers join the fray as well in Chloe Foster from San Jacinto and Jaycee Foor from Northern Oklahoma-Enid. Senior pitcher Christin Haygood comes to HCU after helping lead UT-Tyler to the NCAA Division II title last year.
 
HCU also welcomes six rookies, three of whom will see time in the circle. Leah Hammack of Magnolia and Cara Pitman from Dawson will see time in both the circle and field, and are joined by Zaria Turner of George Ranch, who will be the first southpaw hurler for HCU since 2013 and just the fourth in school history. Jocelyn Briseno of Alvin and Madison Dominguez of La Porte hop into the outfield mix while Hanna York from Deer Park will see action in a utility role.
 
The Friday morning matchup against St. John's is the first-ever meeting between the two schools. HCU then hosts New Mexico in back-to-back games before the weekend culminates with a single game Saturday afternoon against Louisiana-Monroe.
 
HCU and UNM have met just once, that coming in a 3-1 win for the Huskies last year in the ACU Tournament in Abilene. The Huskies and ULM have met nine times overall with the Warhawks holding an 8-1 lead in the series. HCU got its first win in the series last year as the two teams split a doubleheader at the Best on the Bayou Classic.
 
Next up following this weekend is a trip to Stephenville, Texas for the Whataburger Invitational hosted by Tarleton State University. HCU will take on the Texans in a doubleheader on Thursday, followed by a single game against Akron on Friday and games against Austin Peay State and South Dakota State on Saturday.
 
 
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